The Pain Within
by Brennus
Summary: Everyone has their own reasons why they fight. For Jaune Arc, the experience of seeing two of his sisters killed in a Grimm attack when he was a boy was sufficient motivation. It is a more experienced, deadlier Jaune that enters into the halls of Beacon, and one that has a deadly secret.
1. Chapter 1 - Arrival

**Chapter 1 – Arrival**

Hello, RWBY fans! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Brennus and I am, if I may be so bold as to say, a fairly experienced fan fiction writer. All my work up to this point has been in the world of Harry Potter, but I've been hankering to try my hand at something different for a while. The fact that 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' was so awful helped give me a push, too.

I was attracted to the world of RWBY mainly due to its superb array of characters. Let's face it, most stories struggle to come up with one or two interesting characters that can be developed over the course of the show's run, but RWBY has dozens of them. This story is Jaune centric – I generally like the 'zero to hero' type of story arc and he just had a sort of endearing charm and earnestness that fitted that role perfectly. As is common in my HP stories, Jaune enters this one stronger and worldlier than in the series, and even more determined. Although this story covers only up to the end of series one, I envisage I'll write one for each of the following seasons, probably making them more AU as I go.

A word of thanks to two people: (ex-) Mrs Brennus, who read over this and offered her own comments, and my beta Arnel, who very kindly agreed to make the jump over to RWBY with me. She also has to deal with the amusing situation of me having to add Americanisms to a story, rather than me correcting them as I have done for American HP writers. All those years of me telling people that we Brits don't generally eat pancakes for breakfast, and then I end up writing for Nora…

* * *

"Hey, Jaune, catch!"

The young Jaune Arc turned just in time to see a small orange ball sail through the air towards him before it hit him squarely in the face.

"Ow!" he cried. "Damn it, Jade, watch where you're throwing that."

"Ha! You should have been playing with us and not messing around with that stupid wooden sword," the small girl replied.

"Yeah, play with us, Jaunie," the even smaller girl added. Jaune shook his head angrily.

"Can't you see I'm busy killing Grimm? I'm going to become a great knight one day and slay all the monsters!"

To add emphasis to his words, Jaune brandished the wooden sword that his father had made for him. While he owned more expensive toys, this sword was by far his favourite.

"You'll never be a knight," his sister taunted him. "You're too weedy! Even I can beat you in a fight."

Jaune couldn't help but grimace at Jade's words. She had indeed beaten him when they had gotten into a fight last week, and pinned him to the ground for ten minutes before he apologised enough to satisfy her. She was definitely going to follow in the footsteps of their older sisters and become a Huntress when she was older.

"Wanna play ball!" Gabrielle insisted, waving her arms about angrily.

"Okay, sis, we'll play ball," Jaune agreed, desperate to placate his six-year-old sister. While Jade and his older sisters might have been able to bully him into doing whatever they wanted, Gabrielle had only to threaten a few tears before he caved in. She really was too cute to say no to.

He bent down to retrieve the ball that had hit him. Turning to face his youngest sister, who was now eagerly awaiting it to be thrown to her, he noticed something strange in the distance.

"Hey, did you two see anything in the woods just now?" he asked.

Jade looked about in confusion for a moment, before shrugging.

"Nah, I didn't see anything," she replied.

"Throw the ball, Jaunie!" Gabrielle yelled.

"Just for a second, I thought…" he continued.

"What's the matter? Scared of your own shadow again? Some knight you'll be!" Jade said, laughing at him.

"No, I definitely saw something," he insisted.

The two girls turned and peered into the woods. Although only mid-afternoon, the forest seemed a little dark to Jaune.

"Don't like the woods. Scary," Gabrielle mumbled.

"We're alright," Jade insisted. "Mom and Dad said as long as we don't actually go into the trees that we are fine to play here."

"Wanna go home," Gabrielle said, her desire to play catch gone in an instant.

"Don't be silly, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Jaune being a big baby again," Jade said firmly.

Suddenly, a mournful wail erupted from somewhere in the woods. It sounded just like an injured animal, or worse.

"What was that?" Jaune asked fearfully.

"I'm… not sure," Jade admitted. "Err, maybe we should go home now."

"Yeah, I think you're…"

Jaune never finished his sentence, as at that very moment a large, ominous shape emerged from the undergrowth. It stalked forward slowly, until it came clearly into view. It had a white, bone-like skull and a large, fur-covered body. Its large teeth were bared and its red eyes glowed with malevolent intent.

"A Beowolf!" Jade yelled in horror, while Gabrielle just screamed.

"Run!" Jaune bellowed, but his sisters appeared to be rooted to the spot in fear. Hastily, he ran and grabbed both Jade and Gabrielle's hands, trying to pull them along with him. Jade continued to stare at the creature, however, her eyes wide with terror.

"Run, damn it, run!" Jaune practically begged. His words must have gotten through, because Gabrielle turned and began to move as fast as her little legs would carry her. Jade, seeing her sibling run, turned and allowed her brother to drag her along.

They never had a chance. Three young children could never have outrun a fully grown Beowolf, and the beast had begun to sprint towards them the second they had begun to move. Jaune looked over his shoulder and saw the Grimm lunging towards them even as he ran. Knowing that they wouldn't make it, he stopped and brandished his wooden sword at the beast, hoping that he could delay the monster so his sisters could escape.

He heard Jade scream his name a second before the Beowolf bore down on him. With a viscous swipe of its claws, he was knocked flying to one side. He was suddenly aware of a horrible pain in his side, and when he pressed his hand to the area that hurt he felt something hot and sticky on his fingers.

Looking up desperately, he was horrified to see Gabrielle lying face down on the grass perhaps ten feet away from him. Jade was screaming wildly, her fists clenched as she stood helplessly over her sister's body. Then, almost faster than his eyes could track, the Beowolf lunged at her, its jaw wide open.

Blood sprayed into the air and Jaune, in terrible pain and horrified by the sight in front of him, passed out.

* * *

Seven years later

"You didn't have to come all the way to Vale, you know. I could have caught the airship by myself."

Luc Arc looked at his son with a sad smile on his face. To Jaune's eyes, his father was starting to look old, with his blonde hair turning grey rapidly, and the wrinkles around his eyes. His old man was still a force to be reckoned with, however.

"Nonsense. How could I not come and see my only son off on his first day at Beacon Academy? This is a proud day for me, Jaune."

Despite everything, Jaune couldn't help but feel a warm glow of pride envelope him at his father's words. He'd worked hard to make it to this point, and the fact that his father acknowledged that made him happier than he could say. Still, as proud as he was for getting accepted into the prestigious academy, it was tempered with caution and not a little fear.

"You're… you're certain this is the right step, Dad?" Jaune asked, for about the millionth time.

His father turned and looked Jaune straight in the eye, his bright blue orbs staring directly into Jaune's own.

"Son, you've been blessed with power I can only marvel at. You've come an incredibly long way from that day when you came to me demanding to be trained as a Hunter and, honestly, I've taken you as far as I can. This power… this ability you have… you need someone to help to temper and control it. Personally, I can't think of anyone better to do that then Professor Ozpin."

"I know, but, what happens if… if I can't control it again? I nearly killed you, Dad. What happens if I lose control again and hurt someone at the school?"

"This is exactly why you need better training," Luc Arc argued. "The staff at Beacon are used to dealing with pupils with unusual powers that they sometimes need help in controlling. Quit worrying that you hurt me, anyway. Accidents happen in training and I was baiting you pretty badly, anyways. I was probably asking to get my ass kicked."

Jaune said nothing, still privately harbouring his fears.

"Besides, you have a goal, Jaune, and one I heartily agree with. Didn't you say that you wanted to wipe every Grimm off the face of Remnant? Well, to do that you need proper training, up and beyond what I can provide. Also, remember it's not a goal that you can achieve by yourself. You need allies and teammates to fight the Grimm, and Beacon is the place where you'll find them. If you go into this with a pure and honest heart, I swear you'll find friends at that school who will stand by your side through thick and thin. Remember what I've told you, son; the measure of a man can be judged by who his friends are. Pick well, and stay loyal to them."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. I mean, your old team are pretty awesome," Jaune agreed. He'd met former members of both his mother and father's teams several times, and he'd always been slightly awestruck by them. They had been everything that Jaune wanted to be, and just the coolest guys on the planet. The idea that he could be part of a similar team greatly excited him.

"Don't you forget it," Luc agreed, laughing. "They might be getting on a bit, but those guys can still kick ass."

"Well, your ass, anyway," Jaune said, grinning cheekily. The smile was wiped off his face a second later when his father playfully cuffed him across the back of the head. Fairly, playfully, anyway.

"Cheek," Luc muttered, a smile on his lips. "Seriously though, I want you to do well at Beacon, Jaune, but I want you to enjoy your time there, too. We've been through some pretty tough times as a family, but we've come through it all stronger. That said, I sometimes worry that you had your childhood taken away from you too soon. Ever since… that day… you've been pretty single minded about becoming a Hunter, and I totally understand that. I had hoped that you might have actually been able to lead a peaceful life, but, well, I guess things didn't work out like that, did they? Anyway, you're close to achieving that goal, but I don't want you to become fixated on it to the exclusion of everything else. Work hard, but have fun at Beacon, Jaune. Make friends, and take time to enjoy yourself occasionally. Hell, use that Arc charm to get yourself a girlfriend, even!"

"Dad! I'm sure I won't have time for that!"

"Sure you won't," Luc Arc said with a grin. "I remember my time at Beacon. I swear we spent more time chasing girls than we did Grimm."

Jaune felt his cheeks turning red. He muttered under his breath something about his father's abilities to embarrass him.

Luc just laughed. "Don't worry about it, Jaune. I'm sure you'll change your tune once you catch sight of a few of the girls there. Damn, look at the time! You need to go. Get on board the airship, son, and give us a call when you're all settled in or your mother will worry. Have fun, work hard, and live up to the Arc name."

"Thanks, Dad," Jaune replied, accepting a rough hug from his father. "I… I can't say how much you've helped me over the years. I can't quite believe I'm finally going to Beacon now. I would never have made it without help from you and Mom. Oh, and the girls, too, I suppose."

"Ha! I won't tell your sisters how reluctant you were to give them credit," Luc said, before pressing something into his son's hands.

"What's this?" Jaune asked, peering at the small blue box quizzically.

"Air sickness tablets," Luc replied. "Trust me, if you're anything like me, you'll need them!"

* * *

The airship lurched slightly, causing Jaune to grimace. The pills his father had given him were a godsend, and he was pretty sure he would have barfed all over the floor by now without them. Even so, he still wasn't feeling great. Stupid air travel.

Forcing his stomach back under control, he pulled his hoddie down so his eyes were shaded. He really wasn't in the mood to communicate with any of the multitude of teenagers milling around him. Having never attended a regular combat school might have made him slightly antisocial, or perhaps he was just nervous about meeting so many new people. Either way, he decided to keep himself to himself for the moment, and keep his eyes and ears open.

His father's words about finding good teammates were fresh in Jaune's mind and he was determined to be on the lookout for suitable candidates. His shaded eyes scanned the group of clustered teenagers, trying to assess their strengths and weaknesses. At least, as much as he could do from just looking at them.

They were a very mixed bunch, he thought. There was the usual bunch of swaggering, macho idiots, certain they were going to be the greatest Hunters that Beacon Academy had ever seen before they had even started their training, but Jaune's eyes were more frequently drawn to the quieter members of the crowd. The dark-haired boy dressed in green, for instance. He exuded an aura of calm confidence that immediately made Jaune believe that he would prove to be a fearsome fighter. His orange-haired companion was more difficult to read, in so much as she seemed incapable of remaining still for even a second. Still, that much energy had to be useful for something, right?

Letting his eyes wander, Jaune picked out several Faunus dotted about the place, something he definite approved of. His father had been friends with several Faunus and he'd even had one on his team, back in his Huntsman days. Faunus generally brought with them special skills and talents, Luc Arc had told him, things no normal human could do. Don't let their special abilities go to waste just because they had funny ears or a tail, his father had insisted. Having had the pleasure of seeing a few Faunus fight previously, it was something Jaune could agree with heartily.

Some of the other passengers on the ship intrigued him, however. He'd briefly caught sight of a girl in a red hood who looked far too young to be attending Beacon, but perhaps she was only on the ship to keep the busty blonde whom she'd been with company? He'd also seen a tall, red-haired female who seemed vaguely familiar to him, although he'd only caught a fleeting glimpse of her through the crowd. He was sure he'd remember a girl that impressive-looking if he'd met her before, but perhaps all the slaps his father had delivered to the back of his head were effecting his memory. Luc Arc was a firm believer in pounding information into his trainees' heads. Jaune was just glad his mom didn't employ the same training methods.

Wishing bitterly that the flight would be over soon, Jaune sunk back into his seat, shifting his weapon slightly so it wasn't sticking into him. It definitely wasn't something you would want poking into you, he knew from experience. As he moved, for a second he caught the eye of a girl sitting on the opposite side of the ship to him. She'd previously been staring intently at a book she was holding in front of her, probably in an effort to ward off any unwanted conversation. For just a moment, their eyes met, before she gave him a curt nod and returned her attention back to her book. Something about the girl told Jaune that she was worthy of respect. He'd watch out for her; she could be a useful ally, he suspected.

Jaune closed his eyes for a second as the video screen further down the ship's hold droned on about some local criminal and disturbances at a Faunus right rally, but none of it held any interest for him. He cared about only one thing: killing Grimm. He was going to Beacon Academy for one reason — to become a better fighter. Hopefully, he'd also find a team he could work with in the future, but even that was a secondary concern for the moment.

A seconds later, the screen flickered and vanished, to be replaced by the holographic image of one of the teachers he'd briefly met at his induction to Beacon. Having never attended one of the established schools, such as Signal, he'd had to pass an entrance exam to be allowed in. Thanks to the extensive training his parents had provided, Jaune had aced the test. The stern blonde Huntress had been one of those who had administered the exam, and she'd stuck in his mind as a woman not to be crossed.

"…you are amongst the privileged few who have had the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy …"

Jaune found himself rapidly tuning out the woman's welcome speech. He required no motivation to be here, as he was already filled with the burning desire to both prove and improve himself. Luc Arc had informed him that Beacon Academy was the best place to achieve that, so that was where Jaune was going.

"…our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future…"

That statement nearly made him want to throw something at the teacher's image. Peace? Who was she trying to kid? Oh, there might not be any major wars rumbling on now, but Remnant was far from a peaceful place. Try walking just twenty minutes from his family's house into the woods and just see how feckin' peaceful it was.

Gritting his teeth, Jaune forced himself to remain calm. His temper had landed him in trouble before, and he'd learnt to his cost that beating up a few local hoodlums who had been looking for a fight in his hometown was way more trouble than it was worth. Since then, he'd tried to keep a lid on his hot-blooded nature.

The image of the teacher mercifully vanished before she could say anything else that would piss him off. Judging by the way most of his fellow passengers were pressing their faces up to the windows and making 'oohing' noises, they must be approaching the academy. Not that he was in any rush to leap up and enjoy the view – he was barely keeping his stomach under control as it was, even with the pills. It was just something about the constant vibration of the ship, he thought.

Still, at least he hadn't barfed on anyone's shoes.

* * *

Jaune hurriedly left the airship, pushing through the throng of people, and set off with a very clear goal. He had a specific destination in mind and the itinerary the school had provided showed that he had a good twenty minutes before he had to attend the welcome ceremony in the main hall. Plenty of time to get where he was going and get back.

Knowing fairly well where he needed to go, Jaune hurried from the landing site towards the entrance of the main amphitheatre. There, situated on a large rock, was what he'd come to see. A statue of a Huntsman and a Huntress, the man holding his weapon aloft while a Beowolf cowered beneath them both. Jaune stood in front of the monument nervously and looked up at the image of the man.

"Hi," he spoke out loud. "I'm Jaune Arc, and I'm your great-great-great-grandson. Or something like that. I might have got the number of 'greats' wrong. Nice to meet you."

He looked around quickly, suddenly concerned that someone might see him talking to a lump of stone, but no one was in sight. He looked back up at the statue.

"Err, my father, that's Luc Arc, told me I should visit you as soon as I arrived to show my respect and, well, I kinda make a habit of doing what he tells me. I find I get the shit beaten out of me less if I do."

The stone man continued to gaze impassively to the skies.

"My dad, he didn't initially want me to come here, you know. He and Mom said that the Arc family had done enough and that it was someone else's turn to risk their necks, but, well, something bad really happened and it changed their minds."

Only silence greeted Jaune's words.

"I… I lost two of my sisters to a Beowulf. They were ripped apart in front of my eyes, and I couldn't just sit back and do nothing after that, could I? I mean, shit! I couldn't do that. I know Mom worries about me all the time, but that's only to be expected, I guess. Dad understood, though. He knows that you have to fight to protect those whom you love, and that's exactly what I'm going to do, even if I have to kill every last Grimm on the whole of Remnant by myself!"

Jaune took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He still thought about his sisters nearly every day and it gave him the motivation to work as hard as possible. Never again would he stand by uselessly as the claws of the Grimm ripped apart the body of another defenceless soul.

"Anyway, I thought I'd come say hello. Dad told me you were a great Huntsman, one of the best. I want you to know that I'm going to do everything in my power to follow in your footsteps. I want to be a great Huntsman, too."

Running out of things he wanted to say, Jaune shuffled his feet a few times, before turning to go. He'd only walked a few yards before he paused and looked back at the statue.

"It was good to talk," he said simply, before heading for the main hall.

His only distraction was the sound of a loud explosion somewhere in the distance, followed by the voices of two girls apparently having an argument. Jaune ignored them… he wasn't here to mess around with pranks and petty squabbles.

* * *

"…but I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy…"

Professor Ozpin's welcoming speech was definitely not the most reassuring thing Jaune had ever heard, but then again, why should it be? They were coming here to learn how to kill monsters; ravenous beasts without pity or mercy. If a few harsh words were going to discourage anyone then they shouldn't be here in the first place.

The headmaster stepped back, allowing Professor Goodwitch to take the microphone. She was sharp, and to the point. They were to gather in the ballroom and then in the morning begin their initiation. That suited Jaune down to the ground. He had no desire to wait.

They were all herded into a large room which he assumed was the ballroom and given a sleeping bag each. No further instructions were given and everyone sought out a place to camp out for the night. Naturally, people who knew each other from their previous schools banded together so little groups formed all about the room. Jaune, who knew no-one here, simply looked for a quiet corner and spread out his sleeping bag.

As he prepared to settle down, Jaune began to look around the room, checking out his fellow students again, and he noticed many others doing the same. They would, after all, be shortly paired up with partners and teams they would remain with for the next four years, so it was only natural that everyone would be looking out for potential candidates to fill those roles. Several of the boys had already stripped to the waist and were trying to impress the female contingent by flexing their muscles.

Idiots. Hopefully, he wouldn't end up getting stuck on a team with a bunch of morons like them.

Almost absently, Jaune removed his hoddie, intending to replace it with a plain t-shirt in which he usually slept. A very loud wolf-whistle from nearby immediately made him look round.

"Hey, blondie! I really dig guys with scars, you know? Looks kinda sexy!"

Jaune found himself looking at the busty blonde who he'd seen earlier on the airship. She was laying on her belly with her hands propping up her chin. She grinned at him in a manner Jaune could only describe as… predatory.

Feeling his face flush slightly, Jaune just smiled back at the girl briefly before offering her what he hoped was a confident wink, but more probably made it look like he had a nervous twitch. He then hurriedly pulled on his shirt and sat down on his sleeping bag. While female attention certainly wasn't something he minded, it was unfamiliar territory for him. Other than his sisters, that is, but they didn't count.

Suddenly feeling depressed, he absent-mindedly rubbed his stomach, his fingers tracing the line of the scar that ran all down his side and across his stomach. Personally, he couldn't believe any girl would find his disfigurement 'sexy'. Besides, he'd obtained the scar at too high a price. Far too high. His fingers stopped tracing the now faded scar line and reached up to grasp the pendant that hung from his neck. With a practiced flick of his thumb, he opened it to reveal the images of two girls. Both were very young and both had bright, blonde hair.

Even after seven years, Jaune still felt a tug on his heartstrings as he looked at the portraits of his two younger sisters. He knew it was pointless to feel guilt, he'd been ten years old and armed with a wooden sword, but still the shame that they had both died while he survived burned within him. It was illogical, they hadn't been anyplace they shouldn't have been and no one had seen a Grimm in those parts for years, but still he felt that there should have been something he could have done.

The incident had nearly torn his family apart. He'd been in the hospital for several months after the attack, and when he was finally released he found that the loss of two daughters had changed his parents' attitude to the world completely. Before, they'd both been semi-retired Hunters, being part of the town's local militia was sufficient to fulfil their need for a little action to liven up their lives. Afterwards… well, sufficient to say that the Grimm population around Jaune's hometown had taken a massive dip following the deaths of Jade and Gabrielle.

Jaune had changed, too. Although he still wanted to be a knight, gone were the childish dreams of glory and battle. As soon as he'd recovered sufficiently, he'd began to train himself, helped at first by his older sisters, and then by his parents as they began to understand the desire for revenge that burned within their only son. How could they have denied him help when they felt it too?

Gently, Jaune closed the locket and began to unzip his sleeping bag. As he climbed in, he noticed the dark-haired girl he'd seen on the ship had also chosen this quiet corner of the room to sleep, although at present she was propped up against the wall reading a book by candlelight. For a moment, a pair of black eyes regarded him intently over the top of her book, before they were again hidden from sight. Clearly, she had no interest in interacting with anyone. He was happy to respect her wishes; if the girl didn't want to speak to anyone, then that was her business.

As Jaune lay down to sleep, he briefly wondered what the girl's story was. Why had she decide to come here? Had she lost someone too, or did she have a different motivation?

As he closed his eyes, he realised that everyone in the room probably had their own story to tell. After spending so much time training with his family, hearing somebody else's tales might be interesting.

With that encouraging thought, he slipped into a deep sleep.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning was the organised chaos that he was expecting, but fortunately it wasn't long before they were ordered to collect their weapons from the locker room and prepare for the initiation.

Quickly locating his locker, Jaune began to strap on his armour gratefully. He was so used to wearing it that it felt odd when he didn't have it on. Almost lovingly, he strapped on the last pieces, the shin guards, and silently sent a prayer of thanks to his father for helping him design and construct his own armour. He'd been so proud when his father had handed him Crocea Mors, the ancient sword of his family, with instructions that he could modify it in whatever way suited him. So far, Jaune had yet to make any changes, wanting to use the opportunity of coming to Beacon to see what other people had done. Really, he was in no hurry as he was perfectly happy with just the sword and shield combo.

He began to make his way to the assembly area when a pair of girls caught his eye. One was the impressive redhead he'd seen yesterday on the airship. Dressed in her armour and carrying her weapons, she looked even more formidable. The person talking to her was a stunningly beautiful, white-haired girl who was dressed impeccably in a white dress. With her porcelain skin, she had an almost otherworldly appearance.

The redhead happened to glance his way and offered Jaune a warm smile. Feeling it was perhaps time to start actually talking to some of his fellow classmates, he wandered over to introduce himself.

"…so, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to what team you'd like to be on?" the white-blonde was asking the redhead. "I'm sure everyone would want to be on the same team as someone as strong as you."

"Well, actually, I was intending to let the chips fall where they may," the redhead began, sounding a little uncomfortable. As soon as she saw Jaune approaching, however, she broke into a wide smile and nearly pushed the other girl into the wall.

"Hello!" the redhead greeted him exuberantly. "Getting ready for the initiation too, I see."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, actually," Jaune began. "I thought I'd come over and introduce myself, seeing as it's a possibility we might end up on the same team. I'm Jaune Arc."

"Pleased to meet you, Jaune. My name is…"

"He obviously knows your name, everyone does," the other girl butted in angrily, "which makes it all the more unbelievable that he would come over and rudely interrupt our conversation."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise your conversation was private," Jaune said, thinking the little he'd heard being said hadn't sounded private in the slightest.

"It wasn't! Really," the redhead said quickly, much to the annoyance of the other girl. She held out her hand. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos. I'm very pleased to meet you, Jaune."

"Likewise," he replied, shaking her hand.

"Unbelievable! You really don't know who she is, do you?" the other girl snapped.

"Umm…" Jaune mumbled, looking at the redhead intently. She did look a little familiar.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos, the four time winner of the Mistral regional tournament! She's practically a legend. You must have seen her appearances on the television."

"Err…"

"You haven't? What kind of backwater hole you do come from, anyway? Honestly, who hasn't heard of Miss Nikos here? She was even on the cover of the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box, you blockhead."

"Well, forgive me for not wasting my time staring at a TV screen all my life, or eating cereal that would probably give me diabetes. Plus, it tastes like crud," Jaune growled, offended by the pushy girl. "I actually had better things to do, would you believe, like training to fight Grimm."

"Hmm, well, we'll see during the initiation, won't we? Personally, I don't believe anyone with your level of intelligence will last five minutes!"

"Really? And you picked that up from the one minute of conversation you've had with me?" Jaune responded irritably.

"So, where do you come from, Jaune?" Nikos asked, clearly attempting to head off an argument.

"Here in Vale," Jaune replied, trying to be civil to the much politer girl. "A small place on the far side of the Emerald Forest, to be exact. I lived in a fairly out-of-the-way house on the edge of the woods with my family. Well, what was left of it, anyway."

"Oh, did something bad happen?" Nikos asked before a flush came to her cheeks. "Sorry, that's probably too personal a question to ask someone I've just met."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind you asking. I lost two of my sisters to the Grimm when I was very young. They were just ten and six respectively, and I saw it all happen. It kinda messed up the rest of my family for a while. Funny, my dad was dead against me being a Hunter before that happened. He said the family had done enough and it was someone else's turn to put their neck on the line. I doubt he would have even helped train me, otherwise, or let me come here."

The Weiss girl looked at him strangely for a moment, before sighing and casting her eyes downward.

"My father was exactly the same. Being a Huntress wasn't a role befitting a Schnee, apparently."

"Oh, you haven't been introduced yet, have you?" Nikos said. "Jaune, this is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and a rather famous singer in her own right."

"Ah, yes, I think I've heard a few of your songs on the radio. You're great," Jaune said enthusiastically.

"Thank you," Weiss replied, her arrogant attitude somewhat diminished from just a moment ago. "I never really wanted to be a performer, though. My father pushed me into taking singing lessons. He probably thought that I'd forget all about wanting to become a Huntress if I became famous and got lots of attention. Like that would happen."

"My mother has always been very supportive of me, although I suppose bearing in mind the family I come from I was never going to be anything other than a warrior," Pyrrha admitted. "Sometimes it feels like I've been fighting my whole life."

The three of them looked at each other for a moment as if trying to figure out what to say next. The conversation had taken an unexpectedly awkward turn and had become rather personal for three complete strangers.

"I… I think it's nearly time to head for the assembly area. Good luck to you both," Weiss said, turning abruptly and headed towards the door. Perhaps she was embarrassed by inadvertently sharing her family history with two people she didn't know, Jaune thought.

"I should be heading out too," Pyrrha announced. "I very much hope to see you out there, Jaune."

Offering him a radiant smile, the tall redhead turned and walked gracefully away. Jaune watched the slightly exaggerated swing of her hips appreciatively. He was somewhat shocked when, just before she vanished out of sight, she turned her head and gave him another smile, this one rather beguiling. With wide eyes, Jaune watched her disappear behind a row of lockers.

Although Jaune wasn't totally unexperienced with girls, he was by no means an expert, either. His father had offered him some advice on the subject but, after hearing a sample of this apparent wisdom one day, his mother had pulled him to one side and firmly told him to ignore everything Luc Arc had told him unless he wanted to remain single for the rest of his life. Out of the two, Jaune was far more inclined to believe his mother.

No, most of Jaune's knowledge of the opposite sex came from a combination of talking with his sisters and his futile pursuit of Yazmin Grey, the daughter of a local shopkeeper near his home. Her disinterest in him romantically had taken some time to sink into his brain, and certainly not before he'd managed to embarrass himself in front of her and her friends on at least a dozen occasions. It had driven the belief into him that girls just didn't find him attractive, which was why Pyrrha's friendly and almost flirtatious behaviour was so surprising.

Not as surprising though as when the very next moment someone slapped him hard on his butt.

"Hey!" Jaune protested, spinning round. He was confronted by a pair of lilac eyes and a massive grin, both belonging to the blonde who had wolf-whistled him the previous evening.

"Hi, sexy! Hmm, nice firm buns you got there."

Jaune felt his jaw drop and his mind go blank. Never in his life had he encountered a girl quite so… forward.

"I'm really sorry about my sister," a second voice declared. "She really can be a total ass."

Standing beside the busty blonde was the much younger girl Jaune had seen on the airship. Clearly the girl was indeed a student here, although he thought she must be a good two or three years younger than him.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Mr Scarred and Sexy here loves it, don't ya, big boy?"

It was at this moment Jaune began to wonder what Beacon's policy on sexual harassment was. This girl looked like she could eat him alive in an instant. Try not to show fear, he told himself, she'd sense weakness in an instant!

"Umm, hi! Nice to meet you. Are you always so familiar with complete strangers?" he asked, desperately hoping he sounded cool and collected, but rather suspecting he had failed miserably.

"Only when they're lean, muscular and have a few scars," she replied, smiling in a predatory manner. "Seen some action, have ya?"

"A little," he admitted. "The big scar I have down my side I got when I was only ten, though. A Beowulf damn near ripped me open."

"Oh, no!" the small girl squealed. "Were you alright?"

"No, he died, you twerp!" the blonde said, rolling her eyes.

"That's not what I meant!" the red-and black-haired girl spat back. "That must have been a terrible experience for him. I just wanted to know if he'd gotten over it."

"Not really," Jaune interceded. "My two younger sisters died in the attack."

Blondie instantly looked guilty.

"Oh, shit… I'm sorry. If I'd know it was something like that I would never have said anything about the scar. I was just having a little fun with you."

"No, it's okay. You weren't to know," he assured her. "By the way, my name is Jaune Arc."

"Short and sweet. I like it," the blonde said, her smile returned. "I'm Yang, Yang Xiao Long to be exact. This here is my sister Ruby Rose."

"Good to meet you," Jaune told them, before frowning. "How come…"

"We're half-sisters," Ruby explained quickly. "We share the same dad but have different mothers. Not that it matters."

"Nah, I love my lil' baby sister so much! I do, I do!"

To emphasise this Yang had grabbed Ruby and was apparently trying to hug her to death. The smaller girl's arms waved frantically as she tried to escape. Eventually, the blonde stopped trying to suffocate her sibling and released her. The younger girl hyperventilated for a moment before she managed to recover.

"So, that's some pretty cool armour you've got there, Jaune," Ruby noted once she'd got her breath back. "Did you craft it yourself?"

"Mostly, although my father helped a lot. Most of it is made from the same stuff the Atlesian military use. It's the strongest material you can get for the weight."

"Shame it leaves your butt unprotected, eh?" Yank said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'm just learning that for myself," he muttered.

"Come on, Yang, stop embarrassing the poor guy," Ruby insisted, pulling on her sister's arm. "Besides, it's time to head out for the initiation. Oh, I'm so excited! We'll see you out there, Jaune."

"Yeah, see ya later, sexy!" Yang added, before both girls headed off.

Realising he too needed to get moving, Jaune headed for the door. Well, his father had urged him to come to Beacon to meet new people, and he was certain achieving that aim.

Even if some of them were definitely a little strange…


	2. Chapter 2 - Initiation

**Chapter 2 – Initiation**

Please find below Chapter 2, presented for your reading pleasure. Hopefully, by this point the story will have my intended cover image attached to it, rather than my ugly mug. The site really didn't want to change it for some reason.

I previously forgot to mention, this particular story is eight chapters long as it only covers season one of the show. How do I know? Because unlike ninety-five per cent of fan fiction authors out there, I always finish a first draft of all my stories before I post a single word of them. My pet hate is seeing stories where an author has come up with a cool idea, rushes to post the first few chapters, then realises that they have no idea where to take the remaining story, with the result it gets abandoned. A word of advice to all potential authors – as soon as you come up with a set up for a story, immediately ask yourself how you want it to end. It will give you a goal to work towards.

My huge thanks to (ex-) Mrs Brennus for her comments, and particularly to Arnel for beta reading. Really, I promise not to use the word 'got' anymore, I swear!

* * *

"…do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die…"

Jaune looked dispassionately at the headmaster as he delivered his briefing to Beacon's newest students. After his father had told him pretty much what to expect on his first day, Jaune wasn't in the least bit surprised that they were being thrown in at the deep end so soon. He just wasn't expecting the 'thrown in' bit to be quite so literal.

"…are there any questions? No? Good. Take your position."

Shaking his head, Jaune began to prepare himself. Only an idiot, he mused, would willingly allow themselves to be launched off a cliff into a forest filled with murderous beasts, but that's what was apparently going to happen to them. Of course, it would be simplicity itself to just simply step off the launch plate, but to do so would mean instant failure and expulsion from the school. He'd worked too damn long and hard to get here to back down now. Ozpin wanted to see their landing strategies? Well, Jaune was happy to oblige. Hopefully.

With calm purpose, he slid his left arm into the straps of his shield and tightened them. It was a simple piece of equipment, but was adaptable enough to have several uses. Right now, its most useful attribute was simply that it was capable of absorbing his Aura. Smiling grimly, Jaune let his power flow into the shield which he held out in front of him.

Glancing down the line, he noted that Pyrrha Nikos also had her round shield held at the ready. Perhaps feeling his gaze on her, she looked over at him and smiled, possibly appreciating that he was using a similar approach to her. Jaune offered the redhead a sloppy salute in way of tribute, before turning his attention back to the forest below him.

A moment later, the first of his fellow pupils was shot high into the air. Jaune didn't recognise the boy, a sandy-haired fellow in tan-coloured armour. Still, he seemed to know what he was doing.

One by one, the students were launched upwards. It was by sheer chance that Jaune found himself last in line, not that it worried him. As the small girl, Ruby, was catapulted into the air beside him, Jaune braced his legs and leaned forward. A second later, he found himself airborne, rocketing through the chill morning air at a tremendous speed. His stomach churned briefly before he managed to get himself under control.

Using his shield as an airbrake, he began to control his flight while he looked for a suitable landing spot. Unfortunately, the canopy of the Emerald Forest was a solid, unbroken mass of green, so he realised he would have to break through the treetops and hope he didn't smash face first into a redwood.

As he reached the apogee of his flight and began to nose downwards, he increased the flow of his Aura into his shield as he plunged towards the unbroken sea of greenery. Holding it out in front of him as far as he could, he smashed through the canopy, creating a blizzard of leaves around him. Once through, he saw that he was still a good hundred feet or so from the ground, but more pressingly he realised he was heading straight for the thick trunk of a colossal tree. Quickly, he pulled his sword from its scabbard and tried to angle his shield so he would hopefully be deflected off the tree on impact. His strategy worked, to a degree, and he bounced roughly off it, tumbling in the air as he did so.

Fortunately, he ricocheted towards another huge tree, but this time he was able to swing his sword so it impacted into the wood. His momentum was carrying him forward still, but his weapon slowed his decent as he went. Showering splinters in all directions, he managed to descend a good forty feet or so down the trunk of the tree as Crocea Mors ripped through the bark. At that point the tip of the blade slid out of the wood and Jaune began to freefall. By now, he only had twenty or thirty feet to fall and, using his Aura, he was able to cushion his impact on the soft ground, before rolling a few times and landing in a heap.

"Well, that was fun," he muttered out loud. "If that was initiation, I hate to think what end of term exams will be like."

Catching his breath, he climbed to his feet and looked around. The undergrowth was thick, but by no means impenetrable. In fact, he could see several prospect paths he could follow. Opening a small pouch that hung from his belt, Jaune pulled out a compass and quickly established which direction north was. Fortuitously, one of the paths led that way. Happy that things were going so well, he briskly began to walk in that direction.

A snuffling sound from somewhere nearby made him stop dead in his tracks. He knew that sound all too well – an Ursa! Damn, just when he thought this was going to be a breeze…

Fortunately, his shield was already strapped to his left arm and his sword was ready in his right, so when the huge, black-furred beast crashed out from the undergrowth nearby, he was prepared. The Ursa charged blindly at him, perhaps thinking it had surprised him, but a deft side-step and a downward slash proved differently. The beast howled in frustration as its momentum carried it past Jaune where it promptly crashed into a tree.

"Whoopsie, there, big fella. Ya kinda missed me," Jaune said, chuckling out loud. "Wanna try that again?"

The Ursa needed no invitation and, with a bellow that shook the ground, charged again. Jaune pulled his shield tight to him, awaiting the monster's next attack. This time, the Ursa tried to slash him with its claws, but it couldn't get around Jaune's Aura-infused shield. It howled in frustration, shaking its head in anger at being denied. It was the last thing the beast ever did as, a second later, its skull was cleaved open by the young knight's sword blade. It dissolved into black dust and blew away on the breeze.

"Okay, that wasn't too hard to… oh, come on!"

Jaune's momentary relief was banished by the sight of two more of the beasts charging at him from his left. They weren't as large as the first Ursa, but they were still deadly enough. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he realised that the monsters were too close for him to move into a more advantageous position, so he just raised his shield again and waited. The first Ursa was on him in a second, and its snapping jaws narrowly missed his right arm, which he managed to pull out of the way just in time. Being unable to get in a good swing with his weapon, Jaune instead smashed his shield straight into the beast's face. It staggered back, momentarily stunned.

Deciding he'd had enough of this crap, Jaune leapt towards the second Ursa, using the first's back as a spring board. The beast stared stupidly at him as he sailed through the air towards it, only reacting as he was feet away. The Ursa reared up on its hind-legs, intent on mauling him. Instead, it died instantly from a well-aimed blow from Jaune's sword.

The young man landed heavily, narrowly avoiding being pinned to the ground by the body of the dead Ursa as it fell. He scrambled to his feet just as the other beast, who had by now recovered its wits, turned to face him again. The monster hunched its body in preparation of pouncing, but stopped dead in its tracks abruptly.

Jaune briefly had a glimpse of something golden flash in front of him. His jaw dropped as he saw what appeared to be a spear or perhaps a javelin pierce the left eye of the Ursa and bury itself deep in the beast's skull. The Ursa stood rigidly for a moment, before crashing to the ground and dissolving in dust. Jaune spun in the direction the projectile had come from and saw a tall redhead emerge from the bushes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to butt in, you looked like you were handling things fine by yourself, but I couldn't resist a little target practice," Pyrrha Nikos said, offering him a shy smile.

"Nah, no problem!" Jaune assured her. "Share and share alike, that's my motto."

"That's a very effective weapon you have there," she continued, closing the gap until she was standing right before him. "You don't see many pure sword-wielders these days, but you seem to be extremely proficient with it."

"Thanks. I've aways used a sword, it's the Arc family's traditional weapon, after all."

"It's very impressive," Pyrrha agreed, carefully running a gloved finger down its blade. "Does it have any special features?"

"Yeah, it can do this," Jaune said, sheathing his weapon and, using his Aura, combined the two until he had an impressive-looking two-handed sword.

"My word, that's wonderful. So, I presume you alter your weapon to this form when you want to be more aggressive, and retain the shield when you're fighting defensively?"

"Got it in one," he confirmed. "By the way, that was an awesome throw you did back then. You hit that Ursa dead in the eye from, what, thirty, forty yards?"

"Actually, I must confess, I did cheat, a bit," Pyrrha admitted. "You see, my semblance is polarity. Once I throw my weapon, Miló, I can control it in flight, so I can hit targets with pretty good accuracy."

"Wow, it's like a guided missile!" Jaune said appreciatively. "Is that it's only form?"

"No, it has three forms in total: the javelin, a xiphos, and a rifle."

"Damn, that's pretty cool! All that and your semblance rocks, too! No wonder you won all those tournaments."

"Please, people make too much of that," Pyrrha insisted. "Besides, you look a pretty capable fighter yourself. I think we're going to form a great partnership together."

Jaune was startled for a moment. He'd forgotten that he would be partnered with the first person he made eye contact with, and that appeared to be Pyrrha. Damn, he thought happily, he'd really gotten lucky! Today really was going better than he'd expected.

"Yeah, we're going to kick some serious Grimm butt, aren't we?" Jaune said with a wide grin on his face.

"I think so," she replied, smiling warmly at him.

"Well, I suppose we better get moving," Jaune said, reaching into his pouch and retrieving his compass again. "I think North is…"

"That way," Pyrrha said instantly, pointing the direction they needed to go.

"How did you… oh, wait? The polarity thing? I guess that's magnetic North, isn't it?"

"Got it in one," Pyrrha confirmed with an impish grin on her face.

"I guess I won't be needing my compass again anytime soon," Jaune noted, putting the object away. "Shall we, My Lady?"

"Certainly, good Sir Knight."

Grinning like schoolkids, the two of them pushed further into the forest.

* * *

"I don't think they'd build a temple inside a cave," Pyrrha said doubtfully, peering into the dark entrance cut into the rock in front of them.

Jaune sniffed the air. "I think I can smell Grimm down there, too."

"What? You can smell them?"

"Well, they do have a fairly distinct scent to them, don't you think?" he reasoned. "My father and I spent a lot of time stalking Grimm in the woods around our home. They always smelt unnatural to me, you know?"

"I can't say that I've noticed," Pyrrha admitted. "Why don't you think they smell natural?"

"Just that there's nothing else that occurs naturally that smells like them. I always thought they had a distinctly man-made smell about them, like a garbage dump, or something."

Pyrrha copied his actions and took a sniff.

"Now you mention it, there does smell something rotten down there."

"Avoid the cave?"

"Avoid the cave," she agreed.

"I think we've come too far east," Jaune mused. "We might have overshot the temple completely. I guess we should have taken the western track when it split a way back."

"It can't be helped," Pyrrha shrugged. "Let's head back through that clump of trees behind us. Hopefully, that should put us back on the other track."

They headed back, this time heading through the trees. They were pleased to find that the undergrowth wasn't too thick and they could move without difficulty. They walked in companionable silence for a while.

"So, Jaune, tell me more about your father. You two sound pretty close," Pyrrha asked unexpectedly. "Did he conduct all your training?"

"Mostly, although Mom and some of my older sisters helped. Dad did most of it, though. He can be a gruff old bastard, but I love him to bits," Jaune confirmed. "What about you? You mentioned your mother supporting you, but you didn't say anything about your father."

"My father died when I was very young," Pyrrha said sadly. "He was a great warrior, but he was killed in meaningless fight with an underworld gang. It was a stupid battle fought by a bunch of low-life scum who thought they had the right to act however they pleased and treat honest folk like dirt. They shouldn't have been a match for my father, but somehow this gang got lucky and managed to defeat him. It was all so pointless that it just makes me want to cry just thinking about it."

"I'm sorry, Pyrrha, I didn't mean to stir up painful memories."

"No, it's alright, Jaune. After all, if we don't remember how pointless war is, we risk conflict erupting again. It just makes me angry. Here we are, surrounded by Grimm that could destroy all of humanity and we resort to killing each other. It's senseless!"

"Hey, I couldn't agree more," Jaune told her. "We all should be pulling together to try and eliminate Grimm from our world entirely. Everything else is secondary."

"I'm not surprised you feel like that," she said kindly. "Oh, look! I think that must be the temple, and some of the others have made it there ahead of us."

As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Jaune could clearly see the ruins of what undoubtedly must be the temple they sought. Standing amongst the scattered stones were Yang and the dark-haired girl who seemed to like reading so much.

"Oh great, it's Yang," Jaune muttered.

"What's the matter? Is this person unpleasant? Which one of them is she?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh, no. Don't get me wrong, Yang is nice enough. She's just a bit… forward," Jaune admitted. "I haven't really had much experience with the opposite sex and she's just a bit much for me to handle."

Pyrrha actually laughed. "Don't worry, Jaune, I'll protect you," she promised as they made their way towards the temple.

"Yo! Jaune! Glad to see you made it, sexy," Yang called out as soon as she saw them approach. "I do hope you're not cheating on me with this other woman, though. I called dibs on you first, after all."

"This 'other woman' as you refer to me, is Jaune's partner," Pyrrha said with an edge to her voice. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos and I don't think we've been introduced yet."

"Woah, back down there, Red!" Yang exclaimed. "Getting a bit territorial already, ain't ya?"

"I'm just making it clear that Jaune is now my partner, just as I assume this other young woman is yours," Pyrrha retorted.

"Well, maybe you're taking this whole 'partner' thing a bit too literally, ginger-ninja," Yang replied, her tone definitely becoming more aggressive.

"Well, maybe if we're going to start calling each other names, I should refer to you as 'bimbo' or 'airhead'," Pyrrha growled, slowly raising her weapon.

"Bring it on, fire crotch!" Yank snarled back, raising her fists.

"Stop! What the hell are you two doing?" Jaune demanded, leaping between the two angry women. "We're in the middle of our initiation, not to mention in a forest teeming with Grimm. This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves."

"No, you're right, Jaune," Pyrrha admitted. "We should concentrate on the task at hand."

"Yeah, after all, we can pick this up again any time, can't we, Pyrrha Nikos?" Yang challenged.

"Any time," Pyrrha replied, her green eyes practically glowing with fury.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events," the dark-haired girl noted. "By the way, I'm Blake Belladonna."

"Nice to meet you, Blake," Jaune said quickly.

"Likewise," Pyrrha added warmly.

"Oh, so you're nice to her," Yang grumbled.

"As you can see, the relics Ozpin was referring to seem to be chess pieces," Blake informed them while indicating to the piece clutched in Yang's hand.

On seeing this, Pyrrha frantically leapt to the nearest pedestal and grabbed another chess piece, this one a rook.

"Here we are, Jaune," she said, holding it out to him. "A castle – what could be more appropriate for a knight such as yourself?"

"How about an actual knight?" Yang asked sarcastically, holding her piece up.

"Oh, well. We've selected a piece now," Pyrrha said, a note of triumph in her voice.

Jaune looked nervously at the two fuming young women. Something significant had just happened, but for the life of him he had no idea what it was.

"Well, perhaps we should…" Blake started to say, before a noise at the edge of the clearing made her stop.

A moment later, a huge Ursa crashed through the treeline, bellowing loudly. The four young warriors all raised their weapons to meet the threat, only to lower them a moment later as a strange scene unfolded in front of them.

"Nora, please, never do that again," a young man with dark hair moaned as he crawled away from the body of an Ursa, which apparently a small, ginger-haired girl had ridden into the clearing.

"Aw, it's broken," the girl complained, examining the corpse of her now deceased mode of transport.

"This place is nuts," Jaune exclaimed.

"I hear that," Blake agreed, and the two shared a quick fist bump.

"Are you okay?" Pyrrha inquired of the young man, who was slowly struggling to his feet.

"Fine… I'll be… Nora! What are you doing?"

They turned to see that Nora, as she was apparently named, had found the relics and was now dancing around with a rook balanced on her head.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" she sang, doing well not to drop the chess piece while performing her weird little jig.

"Do you think she suffered some sort of head injury?" Blake asked quietly.

"I think that's a distinct possibility," Jaune agreed.

"Oh, don't be a bunch of stick-in-the-muds," the girl called out, obviously having nothing wrong with her hearing. "I'm just having a little fun. This is initiation – it's meant to be fun, right?"

"Yes, my sides are splitting with laughter," her male companion moaned, looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards which, in all probability, he had.

"Well, perhaps some more introductions are required," Pyrrha ventured, "I'm P…"

"I'm Nora!" the girl bellowed at a volume that sent birds scattering from the nearby trees. "Nora Valkyrie! And this is my oldest friend, Lie Ren."

"Err… pleased to meet you," Jaune said, uncertainly. "My name is… uh, guys? Do you hear something?"

Everyone stopped and listened for a moment.

"Is it an earthquake?" Pyrrha asked.

"No, I don't think so. It sounds more like a stampede to me," Ren suggested.

"Stampede? Do they keep cattle around here?" Blake asked doubtfully.

"In the middle of a Grimm-infested forest?" Jaune scoffed. "I don't think so. In fact, I think that sounds like…"

He never finished his sentence as at that moment, out of the treeline perhaps five hundred yards away, a pack of Beowolves emerged, running towards them fast. A second pack emerged from a different location a few moments later, followed by a third. Amongst the packs Jaune could also make out a number of Boarbatusk. If that wasn't bad enough, hot on the heels of the Beowolves scores of Ursa also crashed out of the trees, all heading directly towards them.

"Grimm," Yang said, completing Jaune's sentence. "Well, it was nice meeting you guys. I hope you've all made out your wills."

"Nora, didn't I say you were attracting too much attention?" Ren sighed. "Crashing through the forest on a Ursa bellowing at the top of its voice was bound to alert all the other Grimm in the area."

"Sorry," the girl said, at least sounding a little guilty.

"Maybe we should…" Blake began, before she too was interrupted, this time by the sound of a girlish scream.

"Headdddddddssssss uppppppppppppppp!"

They all looked up in time to see Ruby Rose, Yang's younger sister tumbling from the skies. For a second, Jaune was transfixed as his mind desperately tried to process this new sight and decide what to do. Fortunately, the girl proved capable of saving herself as she aimed a massive weapon that Jaune at first thought was a scythe but proved to be some sort of rifle, directly at the ground. The girl fired repeatedly downwards, the force of the recall somehow slowing her down. Every single fact Jaune knew about physics was instantly proved wrong as the small girl was able to make a heavy, but otherwise safe, landing on the ground in front of them.

"Ruby?" Yang exclaimed in disbelief. "Where did you drop from?"

"Oh, hi, Yang," Ruby greeted her sister cheerfully. "I came from up there and… oh, damn it, Weiss! I told you to let go!"

The last part of this sentence was yelled loudly skyward, and again the group all looked up. This time, they saw a huge Nevermore circling above with what appeared to be a figure in white clinging from one of its legs.

"How could you leave me?" a distant voice demanded.

"This day just keeps getting weirder," Blake muttered.

"She's gonna fall," Yang prophesised.

"Nah, she's… oh. Yeah, she is falling, isn't she?" Ruby admitted.

As the figure in white came closer, Jaune recognised it was indeed Weiss Schnee whom he'd met back at Beacon that morning. Several thoughts popped into his head, not least the idea that he should probably try to catch her. Once again, any action proved unnecessary as Schnee brandished her weapon and conjured a series of white glyphs directly below her. As she fell through each of these, her descent was slowed sufficiently that by the time she reached the ground she barely had to bend her knees on impact.

"Everything I know about science is wrong," Jaune said despondently.

As soon as Weiss landed, she instantly turned on Ruby.

"You dolt!" Weiss cried. "You irresponsible, childish, idiot! We could have been killed. Did you even think about that?"

"Umm, guys?" Yang tried to intervene.

"Oh, don't you even dare try defending her!" Weiss snapped, turning on Yang. "Your sister is a reckless fool! I've never met anyone quite as irresponsible as her!"

"Maybe, but I think you…" Yang began.

"I don't want to hear it! Nothing you could say will convince me that your sister is anything other than a menace," Weiss spat.

"I think what Yang was trying to say was; look behind you," Pyrrha interrupted.

Both Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose turned in the direction that Pyrrha was pointing, only to be greeted with the sight of several hundred Grimm bearing down on them.

"Oh, shit!" Weiss screeched, her elegant, lady-like persona gone in a flash.

"Guys, back to the temple," Jaune yelled. "We don't stand a chance out here in the open. Let's find a defendable position amongst the ruins!"

The group didn't need to be told twice, and they all turned and ran back to ruined temple.

"Up there!" Pyrrha cried, pointing to what appeared to be a partly collapsed building that stood on a raised piece of ground. The second story was long gone, but the remaining walls were just high enough to provide cover. Better still, there was a sharp drop on two sides, meaning the Grimm could only really attack them from the front.

"Inside," Jaune urged them. "Okay, who has a ranged attack?"

"Me," Nora called out, with Pyrrha and Ruby also raising their hands.

"Okay, start trying to thin the pack. Knock yourselves out, ladies!" Jaune instructed.

Nora just gave a sharp salute and stationed herself in the doorway of the ruined house. The hammer she'd been carrying seemed to morph in her hands, to be replaced a second later by a grenade launcher. Chuckling merrily to herself, she began to pump grenades at the oncoming Grimm, who were by now only a few hundred yards away. Thunderous detonations engulfed the front ranks of monsters, and Jaune could only gasp as numerous Grimm body parts sailed through the air.

"Hell, remind me not to get on her bad side," he mumbled.

"Oh, Nora's always been pretty spectacular," Ren confirmed, a note of pride in his voice.

Ruby by now had taken position in what had been a window and was shooting rounds from her weapon at the oncoming beasts like it was going out of fashion. Pyrrha had selected her weapon's rifle form and was resting it on a piece of wall, carefully picking off targets.

"Okay, they're going to be on us soon. My weapon doesn't have a ranged attack, so I can't help until they're up close. Do you have anything that can attack from range?" Jaune asked the remaining group.

"I do," Ren said, hefting a machine pistol in each hand with what appeared to be blades attached.

"Me, two," Yang added, displaying her gauntlets.

"Me, three," Blake joined in, brandishing her own weapon.

"I can perform ranged attacks, but it might be best if I saved my Dust for when we really need it," Weiss commented.

"What, we don't need it now?" Yang demanded, gesturing at the solid wall of Grimm bearing down on them.

"Never mind, it always pays to have something in reserve," Jaune decided. "Okay, get ready. Fire!"

The leading rank of Grimm who were now on the verge of starting to climb the area of raised ground the house stood on, literally disintegrated in the combined fire of the seven would-be students. The broken walls offered many firing points, and the concentrated weight of fire was devastating. Unfortunately, as fast as one Grimm crumbled into dust, another leaped forward to replace it.

"Nearly out of grenades, guys," Nora called. She'd been pumping the chunky rounds at the Grimm solidly, and Jaune assumed there was a strict limit to how much ammunition she could carry.

"Schnee, take her place," Jaune called. "Nora, switch back to your hammer and get ready to tackle anything that gets past the others. The rest of you, keep firing!"

"I've only got a couple more clips for each of my weapons," Ren called over.

"I've only got two more mags, too," Ruby shouted while still repeatedly cocking her gun.

"Okay, once we run out we… shit!"

It was fortunate that Jaune looked up at that moment as a second later several huge feathers impaled themselves in the ground a few inches away from him. A harsh cry from above revealed that the Nevermore had decided to join in the attack, too.

"Oh, come on! This is just ridiculous," he moaned, eying the razor-sharp quills. "Is this really meant to be the school's idea of an initiation?"

"Jaune, we can't fight the Grimm in front of us and that bird at the same time," Pyrrha called out.

"Weiss," Jaune yelled after a few moments thought, "can you use your glyphs to freeze that thing?"

"Probably, but it would need to be pretty close for me to hit it," she called back.

"Okay, Ruby. Get up on the back wall and start sniping at the bird with your last rounds. Hopefully, it will get so angry it will swoop lower to attack."

"You got it, Boss!" Ruby shouted enthusiastically and, in a flurry of rose petals, leapt up on what was left of the back wall and began shooting at the bird.

"Last clip!" Ren shouted, sounding distinctly flustered.

"I've nearly out, too," Yang yelled.

"Shoot what you've got and switch to melee attacks," Jaune called back. "Just don't let any of the bastards get in here or we're finished!"

"We'll be trapped in here," Ren bellowed. "We need to try and break out!"

"We'll be slaughtered out in the open. Keep your head and carry on fighting!" Jaune yelled back.

"Damn," Yang snarled as she fired her last round. An Ursa immediately leapt up the bank and began to climb over the low wall, only to be smashed backwards by the force of the blonde girl's fist.

"Here, birdie-birdie," Jaune heard Ruby yelling, obviously trying to taunt the Nevermore lower. So far the bird had refused to descend any further, and continued to shoot deadly feathers at them from altitude. Fortunately, due to the height it was circling, they were weren't particularly accurate, but the razor-sharp quills were still a distraction they couldn't afford.

"Hey, birdbrain!" Yang shouted skywards in between punches. "I ate your mother's leg after roasting it on a spit! It tasted like crap. I guess I should have deep fried it!"

"Yeah, that will work, 'cos Nevermores can understand every word you say," Jaune grumbled, before thrusting his sword between the eyes of a Beowulf that was trying to climb in through a gap in the wall.

"It's coming!" Ruby yelled.

"What the… oh, what do I know anymore?" Jaune gasped as he took a quick look and saw the giant bird was indeed diving down towards them. "Weiss, get ready!"

"Ready!" the girl confirmed and raised her rapier in aim.

The Nevermore came at them screaming like a banshee, its beak wide open and its talons extended. Ruby bravely remained in position, exposed on the wall. She'd stopped firing, presumably out of ammo, and her large-bladed weapon was held at the ready.

Jaune was about to yell at Weiss to take the creature down, but she beat him to it. Multiple glyphs formed in the air directly in front of the bird, and the monstrous creature was unable to avoid them, try as it might. Although the Nevermore banked hard, its right wing caught one of the glyphs and instantly became encased in ice, causing the bird to plummet downwards in a spiral.

As Jaune watched in fascination, the Nevermore tumbled towards the pack of Grimm that had been relentlessly attacking their position, before ploughed into them in a spectacular death-dive. The sheer size and momentum of the creature meant that it flatten huge numbers of Ursa, Beowolves and Boarbatusk as it went. Eventually, the bird came to a halt and began to crumble into dust. In its death agonies, the Nevermore had taken out a large proportion of the attacking Grimm.

"Well, that was lucky," Yang declared.

"Hey, there's only a handful of Grimm left! Let's get them!" Nora yelled.

Before he could stop her, the girl had charged out of the makeshift fortress and launched herself at the remaining Grimm. Jaune looked appraisingly at the remaining foes, and realised that there was indeed a manageable number left. Gripping his sword firmly in his hand and deploying his shield, he leapt over the wall.

"Charge! Let's get them," he yelled, but his comrades needed little encouragement. Yang was already amongst the remaining beasts, swinging her fists and causing small explosions each time she connected. A red blur dashing past him revealed that Ruby had joined her sister in the fight. Pyrrha had leapt from the ruined wall directly into a group of Ursa and was methodically decimating them with surprising grace. A quick glance behind him revealed Ren, Blake and Weiss following him out of the house and running towards their remaining foes purposefully.

Leaping from the high ground, Jaune buried his sword in the head of a Beowolf, before smashing a second in the face with his shield. Screaming in fury, he hacked at the beast repeatedly before it disintegrated in front of him. He turned, seeking a new target, but saw immediately that it was all over. As he watched, Blake dispatched the last remaining Ursa with a decisive swing of her blade.

The group all turned and looked at each other in amazement, like they couldn't believe they were still alive. Everyone was breathing heavily and looked worse for wear. Ren even sank to his knees, panting, seemingly too exhausted to stand.

"Well, that was definitely a thing," Yang noted.

Jaune took a deep breath and scanned the little group to make sure no one was hurt. As he did so, his relief turned to anger. He stomped over to where Nora was standing and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"You!" he shouted. "Did it ever occur to you for a second that riding a bellowing Ursa through a Grimm-infested forest might attract a little attention? With the noise that thing was making I expect you attracted every monster within five miles here!"

"Oopsie," Nora said, biting her lower lip.

"And you!" Jaune continued, turning to Ruby. "Hitching a ride on a screaming Nevermore! If Nora attracted every Grimm for five miles, you must have grabbed the attention of every monster in Vale! You would have been seen and heard for miles! Haven't you ever heard of tactical movement and not drawing attention to yourself?"

"Err… what she said," Ruby replied, pointing sheepishly at Nora.

"Umm, Jaune? I know we were in a tight spot, but everything worked out okay, didn't it?" Pyrrha pointed out, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Nora and Ruby had no idea that there were so many Grimm out there."

"Maybe not," Jaune agreed, his temper rapidly fading in the face of his new partner's soothing voice. "But, guys, next time, can we tone it down a little?"

"You got it, Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed, giving him the thumbs up. Jaune noted that the small girl seemed to have an extraordinary amount of energy left after that desperate fight. In fact, nearly everyone in the group seemed to have recovered quickly, other than Ren who was currently laying on his back, still panting.

"Really, Ren? That little skirmish wore you out?" Nora said disapprovingly, bending over her friend. "The reason you don't have any stamina is because of your diet. You should eat more meat and drink less of that green gloop you call a health drink."

"It's… packed… with… nutrients," Lie Ren gasped.

"Nah, what you need is a good, thick steak!" Nora declared.

"Oh, Gods, that sounds good," Jaune agreed, suddenly feeling hungry. "An 8oz steak, flame grilled, with all the trimmings!"

"It's definitely past lunch time," Pyrrha said, looking amused.

"What do you say we get out of here?" Jaune suggested. "Anyone who hasn't picked up a relic grab one as we head out. Pyrrha, which way is North?"

"That way," she said, pointing towards a line of rocky cliffs.

"Then we go the other! Come on, gang."

"Well, that could have been worse," Ruby suggested as they made their way back through the temple. "I mean, it's not like we got attacked by a Deathstalker, or anything."

"Shut up, Ruby!" seven voices yelled simultaneously.

* * *

On a clifftop, several miles away, two people stared at their tablet-sized scrolls in fascination.

"Amazing," Goodwitch declared. "Brand new students, and they must have taken out a third of the entire Grimm population of the forest."

"Oh, I think you're exaggerating," Ozpin rebuffed her. "It couldn't have been more than a quarter of them, at most."

"Nevertheless, it appears we have a talented group of students this year," she persisted.

"Indeed, you will have no arguments from me on that score," Ozpin agreed. "I was particularly impressed with the bravery of Miss Rose to offer herself up as bait for the Nevermore like that, and the leadership skills of Mr Arc."

"Yes, they would have been in serious trouble if he hadn't led them into cover. One of the potential team leaders, definitely.

"I quite agree, Glenda," Ozpin said, nodding, "and possibly more."

The two senior teachers looked at each other for a moment, before sharing a smile.

"Yes, I think I shall endeavour to keep these eight to together for the moment," Ozpin muttered. "I envisage great things for them."


	3. Chapter 3 - Intergration

**Chapter 3 – Integration**

Firstly, apologies about the delay in posting this chapter, which was due to a combination of problems with my e-mail account and drinking a lot of cider while on holiday in Devon. BTW, no one needs to send me send me the YouTube link to the 'My Little Pony Cider Song', I've already seen it. Trust me, those wimpy nags weren't drinking 7.5% craft cider!

I also want to mention a rather bad review I received. Now, most of the review I thought was complete rubbish, but it did touch on one point I thought was interesting. Basically, this person thought I'd destroyed the mood I'd set for the story by including lighter, more humorous parts. This really is missing the point. Jaune, in this story, is not some cold-blooded, Grimm-killing robot. He, like virtually everyone I include in the tale, will be relatively true to canon, meaning he's still a bit awkward and bashful, but with a good heart. His family have suffered, but they've come through it together. Basically, he'll just be the same old Jaune, but better trained and motivated, hence why he doesn't spend all his time trying to chat up Weiss.

On the subject of bad reviews, please note that in this chapter Jaune and Pyrrha's discussion about Ren is only meant as a bit of fun. Seriously, if I receive any reviews having a go at me about it I swear I will hunt this person down and (NOTE: the following has been censored due to graphic content) **** ****** *** **** large rubber tube and *** ******* Madagascar *** **** * **** so even their own mothers wouldn't recognise them.

You have been warned.

Err, this author's note is really too long. I'll just pause to thank Arnel for beta reading and sign off. I'll post again later in the week!

* * *

With a low moan of ecstasy, Jaune took another bite of his burger. Sadly, Beacon's cafeteria hadn't been serving steak (and damn Nora for putting the idea into his head) but they had been offering some juicy, thick burgers smothered in cheese, and that was simply too good to miss. He chewed happily, content that the day had gone well and that he'd earned this tasty dinner treat.

"That good?"

He turned his head slightly to see Pyrrha looked at him in amusement. She'd resisted the temptation of the big, greasy burgers and selected pork chops instead. It wasn't a bad option, Jaune supposed, but nothing could beat a good burger.

"Yeah, it's great," he managed to say after taking a large gulp. "Just what I needed after a hard day of Grimm slaying!"

"I suppose so, but, here, you've got juice running down your chin."

Before he could stop her, Pyrrha had taken a napkin and wiped the offending liquid away. He instantly felt like a messy three-year-old, being fussed over by his mother. Or rather he would have if not for the fact that in order to reach him Pyrrha had leant forward a great deal, giving him an eyeful of her exposed cleavage. He mumbled his thanks and tried to concentrate on his meal.

"Aw, that's sweet," Nora commented from her position across the table. She too had selected a burger and had been sucking up fries like no tomorrow. Ren, however, had steadfastly refused to indulge and was instead eating a dish of mixed rice and vegetables. Frankly, Jaune was starting to see Nora's point about her friend's diet. How could anyone be expected to fight just eating that stuff?

"Oh, do we all get to baby Jaune?" Yang asked from further down the table. The eight of them had all stuck together following their return from the forest. Yang, Ruby and even Weiss had all taken the burger option, too. Only Blake abstained, although she seemed very happy with her fish pie.

"I don't need anyone to baby me," Jaune said, flushing slightly. "Pyrrha was just being nice."

"Shame, I was looking forward to changing your nappy," the busty blonde replied seductively.

"Hey, aren't these burgers great?" Jaune said quickly, as he could see Pyrrha bristling at Yang's comment and he wanted to head off another row.

"These are super yummy," Ruby declared, enthusiastically waving her half-eaten burger in the air and nearly hitting an unamused Weiss with a slice of tomato. "Dad used to do great burgers on the grill back home. These are nearly as good."

"Shame that was the limit to his cooking skill, though. If he couldn't grill it, it would probably end up inedible," Yang lamented.

"We all deserve these after our performance today. Everyone did great," Jaune told them.

"Yeah, we kicked butt!" Nora exclaimed.

"Oh, I hope we all end up on the same teams. I mean, I know there's only four to a team, but if we end up forming two teams by ourselves," Ruby said, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"That would be acceptable, I suppose," Weiss agreed, daintily popping a piece of burger into her mouth with a fork. She was the only one not using her hands to eat.

"Just think, that was only the first day! Imagine what it will be like when our training starts properly," the red-hooded girl continued, practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. "Ooh, this is all so much fun!"

"Fun? You nearly got skewered by a Nevermore today," Weiss noted acidly. "We could all have been killed by that horde! You think that was fun?"

"Well, apart from the whole nearly dying bit, yeah,"

"Oh, give me strength," Weiss muttered, burying her head in her hands.

Jaune chuckled quietly and resumed eating his dinner. As he picked up a few fries he happened to look around the room.

"Hey, there seems to be a lot less people in uniform here than there was at breakfast," he noted. "I don't see many of the guys that came in on the airship yesterday here."

"Apparently, a lot of the second group washed out of their initiation," Blake informed him. "Strange really, as they started behind us. You would have thought us killing all those Grimm would have helped them."

"I was talking to a second year who said that the second group is typically made up of all the weaker candidates. Apparently, Ozpin and Goodwitch always oversee the strongest potential pupils and the initiation testing of the rest is handled by other teachers," Yang added.

"Wow, he thought I was one of the stronger potential pupils? I'm amazed," Jaune said.

"Oh, really. False modesty is very unbecoming," Weiss griped. "Clearly you are a very able fighter and seem to have a good head for tactics, too. I wouldn't be surprised if they made you a team leader."

"I doubt that," Jaune said, shaking his head.

"Would you like to make a wager?" Weiss challenged.

"Not really, no."

"Coward," Weiss sniffed. "Shame, I was going to make you be my butler for a day if you lost. I'm going to miss not having servants around the place."

"Boring! You could have made him do something sexual. That would have been more fun," Yang said.

"Really! We don't all have our minds in the gutter!" Weiss snapped, sounding offended.

"How about you, Jaune?" Yang asked, ignoring the irate heiress. "What would you have made Weiss do if you had won?"

"Err, I'm not sure," Jaune said awkwardly, aware of seven sets of eyes on him, all but one pair female. "Perhaps… err, cook me a nice, juicy steak, like we were talking about earlier?"

"Cook?" Weiss exclaimed in obvious confusion. "What, you mean using that heating thing in the food place?"

"On second thought, maybe not. I suddenly have visions of Beacon burning to the ground," he said with a sigh.

"So, what time is the acceptance ceremony?" Ruby asked as everyone sniggered at Weiss.

"At six," the all-knowing Blake replied. "We'll be assigned our teams at the same time."

"Should be interesting," Jaune noted, before popping the last of his burger into his mouth. Now, did they allow seconds?

* * *

"…Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long will form Team RWBY…"

"Well, it looks like Ruby got her wish. The eight of us have all ended up in just the two teams," Pyrrha whispered in his ear.

Jaune turned and smiled at her. "Yeah, and we make a couple of pretty awesome teams, too. Still, why Ozpin picked me to lead this team is a mystery."

Pyrrha actually giggled.

"You're joking, right?" she asked. "After you just took control of everything during our initiation and probably saved all our lives by doing so? If the headmaster had picked anyone else to lead the team I would have though he needed his head examined."

"What about you? Come on, Pyrrha, you're a world renowned warrior. Surely you should be leading your own team?"

"I might be famous for winning a few tournaments, but I've generally always worked alone," she explained. "I don't even really have a good role model of what an accomplished leader should be to follow. You, on the other hand, seemed to have learnt a lot from your father. Didn't you say he led his own Hunter team previously?"

"I guess, but I'm not sure I'd want to copy his leadership style," Jaune replied dubiously. "Whenever I got something wrong he used to think slapping me across the back of the head was a good way of making me remember my lessons. I can't see that working with either you or Nora. Not unless I want my legs broken, anyway."

This time, Pyrrha laughed out loud.

"Maybe not," she agreed, "but I suspect you've learnt a lot more from him other than that. Just look at the people in our two teams. Do you think someone like Weiss or Yang are in the habit of meekly taking orders from just anyone? No, Jaune, the way you acted just made them respect you instantly, and ready to follow you without question. You are what I believe is termed a natural leader."

"Pyrrha, I don't think…" he began, before he was interrupted by a red blur appearing before him.

"Jaune!" Ruby yelled enthusiastically. "We're both team leaders! How awesome is that?"

"Congrats, Ruby. Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool," he agreed with a smile.

"Hopefully, our quarters will be close by so we can all hang out with you guys. Oh, this is going to be just great, I know it!"

"It's nice to see you so enthusiastic and, yes, it will be nice to socialise," Pyrrha agreed.

"Just think of all the eight of us have achieved already! Beacon isn't going to know what hit it," Ruby continued, her feet skipping in a strange little dance of happiness.

"Gotta agree with that," Yang said, having come over and joined the group. "What'd ya say, blondie?"

"Umm, yeah," Jaune reluctantly agreed, noting the hard look Pyrrha was directing towards Ruby's sister.

"Oh, come on, red. Don't look so angry," Yang said, having also noted the girl's unfriendly glare. "What's that matter? Can't stand a little friendly competition?"

"I'm quite prepared to face any challengers in the arena," Pyrrha said stiffly.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about fighting," Yang replied, casually draping an arm over Jaune's shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, well, we'd better go and find our accommodation. See you guys later. Come on, Yang," Ruby said quickly, virtually dragging her sister away, much to the blonde's protest.

"I really don't like that girl," Pyrrha sniffed.

"She's not so bad. I think she just likes messing with people," Jaune said.

"Well, that's not a very attractive personality trait, is it? Come along, Jaune. We should find our own accommodation. Now, where did Nora and Ren go?"

"Err, I'm not sure. They were here a moment ago."

"If we find one of them, we'll find the other," Pyrrha said decisively. "Those two are always together."

"Yeah, I hope that with us all sharing accommodation it doesn't lead to any, umm, embarrassing situations."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, those two seem really into each other," Jaune pointed out. "You know… it might be a bit embarrassing if they get… err… too amorous together."

"Oh! No, I don't think that will happen," Pyrrha said, her cheeks flushing lightly. "I don't think they're any actual couple. At least, when I talked to Nora about it this morning she said they weren't."

"Really? But they act like their married, or something!"

"I know, but that's what she said. They do have a rather strange relationship, though," she conceded.

Jaune thought for a moment. "Umm, you don't think that Ren… err… bats for the other side do you?"

"What makes you think that?" Pyrrha asked sharply.

"Well, the simple fact that his best friend is female but there isn't any apparent sexual tension between them. Nora didn't seem upset that he was talking to other girls, either. That pink streak in his hair is a bit suspect, too."

"I'm not sure any of that constitutes evidence," Pyrrha said with a touch of disapproval in her voice. "A man and a woman can just be friends, you know."

"Yeah, I get it, but it would explain their relationship if Ren was gay, wouldn't it?" he pointed out.

"Well, I suppose… not that there would be anything wrong with that, of course."

"Oh, absolutely not! I wasn't implying for a second…"

"No, I'm sure you weren't."

"Not for a moment."

"Naturally."

"Good."

"Err…"

"Shall we go and seek out our room?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Jaune said lamely.

They walked in silence for several minutes before Pyrrha started to giggle to herself softly.

"What's the matter?" Jaune asked curiously.

"Oh, I was just thinking to myself that you shouldn't worry," she replied with mischief in her bright, green eyes. "If Ren should find you attractive and come onto you, I'll protect you. I don't imagine you'll have anything to worry about, though."

"Why? What's wrong with me?" he asked indignantly.

"I'm just sure you're not Ren's type. I would imagine he would go for the more introspective and thoughtful type."

"Oh, that's… hey! I can be introspective and thoughtful!"

"Of course you can, Jaune, of course you can," Pyrrha agreed, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.

They walked on in silence, with Jaune trying to work out if he'd just been insulted or not.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha found their assigned room without too much difficulty, and were surprised to find Ren and Nora were already there. Nora had called dibs on bed nearest the window, and Ren had taken the one next to it. This left Jaune and Pyrrha with the two beds on the other side of the room. As they selected their preferred ones, it suddenly occurred to Jaune that he would be sleeping just a few feet away from a remarkably attractive young woman. There was only one shared bathroom, too.

"So… heh, heh… this place is pretty progressive in its outlook," Jaune noted. "I mean, two young men and two young women all sharing sleeping quarters, virtually unsupervised."

"They're just treating us like adults," Pyrrha countered. "I mean, we'll be operating as a team from now on, and that includes field operations. We'll be living and working in close proximity, so we should just get used to it so it won't cause any problems."

"Yeah, it's no big deal," Nora added. "Ren and I have practically lived together since we were kids. We've never had any problems. Except that one time when Ren was talking a bath and I…"

"They really don't need to hear about that!" Ren said quickly.

"It's amazing that you've been together for so long, though," Pyrrha added, hiding her amusement. "You two really are the best of friends."

"Yeah, we've always looked out for each other," Nora agreed happily.

"Did you… oh, sorry, that's my scroll ringing," Jaune said, patting his pockets looking for the vibrating object. He eventually located it and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Ah, Mr Arc. This is Professor Ozpin here. Are you and your teammates settling in okay?"

"Oh, yes, sir! The accommodation is very nice."

"Excellent. I was wondering if you would be so good as to visit me in my office, if you would be so kind. Say, in half an hour?"

"Of course, Professor!"

"Good. I'll see you then."

The scroll went dead. Jaune looked down at the blank screen in surprise.

"Who was that?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"The headmaster. He wants to see me."

"What for?" Nora asked.

"I have absolutely no idea," he admitted truthfully.

* * *

Feeling somewhat apprehensive, Jaune rode the elevator upwards. At first, he'd assumed that all the new team leaders were asked to see the headmaster, and that he'd just been the first called. Certainly, if they were going alphabetically that would make sense. However, as he walked the tower where Professor Ozpin's office was located, he began to wonder.

He knew, for instance, that his father had spoken directly to the school about Jaune's fledgling powers and the difficulty he had in controlling them sometimes. Perhaps he was being summoned to discuss that? Of course, he could equally have been summoned due to some transgression he or his team had committed. Jaune didn't think he'd done anything wrong up to that point, but perhaps one of his team had done something? If this was the case, his money was on Nora. That girl seemed to attract trouble.

The lift stopped smoothly and the doors opened to permit Jaune his first look at the office of Professor Ozpin. Whatever Jaune's was expecting, this wasn't it. As he stepped into the room, he was surprised to see a mass of huge cogs and wheels overhead, like he'd just walked into some giant cuckoo clock.

Sitting behind a large desk was the headmaster himself, with Professor Goodwitch standing by the side of the desk looking intimidating, as always. Straightening his shoulders, Jaune marched up to the desk to present himself.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Mister Arc, and thank you for coming to promptly," Ozpin said by way of greeting.

"No problem, sir," Jaune replied. He was hardly going to piss off the Headmaster of Beacon on the first day by being tardy now, was he?

"So, tell me, how have you found the school so far? What have been your first impressions?" Ozpin asked, before raising a mug to his lips and taking a deep gulp of whatever it was he was drinking.

"Uh… good, so far," Jaune stuttered. He wasn't expecting to be quizzed on how things were going already. He desperately thought of something to say that didn't make him sound like a complete idiot. "The accommodation is good and the food I've eaten has been of a high standard."

"Glad to hear it. How about your teammates? Are you all getting along?" Ozpin pressed.

"Oh, yeah, definitely! They're a great bunch. I mean, I've got Pyrrha Nikos in my team. It doesn't get much better than that, does it? Ren and Nora are great, too. I'm pretty sure we'll all get along together great. I've not met too many of the other teams, apart from Ruby Rose and her team, and they are pretty cool, too. In fact, from what I've seen, the whole year seems like it's got some pretty amazing characters in it. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into training."

"Very commendable, Mister Arc," Goodwitch said, the first words she'd spoken. "I'm always pleased to see enthusiasm in my students."

"Umm, while we're on the subject of training, did my dad speak to you about my special requirements?" Jaune asked nervously.

"Indeed he did," Goodwitch confirmed. "I must say, your father has changed a great deal since I last spoke to him. He was a contemporary of mine when I first attended Beacon, and I always found him to be a little… irresponsible. It seems fatherhood has given him a new focus in life."

"You'll have to forgive Professor Goodwitch I'm afraid, Mister Arc. Your father was something of a ladies man when he attend this school, and he was rather taken by Glynda here. Luc was rather persistent in his pursuit, and frequently had to be reminded of her non-interest at the end of her riding crop. Actually, I really never knew what you had against the young man, Glynda. He was, after all, a rather handsome fellow," Ozpin noted, his eyes betraying his amusement.

"I hardly think this is an appropriate discussion in front of Mister Arc, is it?" Goodwitch replied frostily, before turning back to Jaune. "Yes, Mister Arc, your father voiced his concerns regarding the rather unpredictable nature of your Semblance. I myself will undertake some additional training with you to see if we can't establish a little more control of it. I'll send the times and dates of our sessions to your scroll shortly."

"Thank you, Professor," Jaune replied, while all the while wondering what his father had seen in this, frankly, terrifying woman. Still, she did have blonde hair and green eyes, just like Jaune's mother, so maybe that was his father's type…

Oh, gods, now he looked at her, Professor Goodwitch looked just like his mother! How the hell was he going to get that out of his head when he talked to her?

"Well, that covers everything I need to discuss, so I'll take my leave," Goodwitch announced, before she leant down and whispered something in the headmaster's ear. From where he was, Jaune couldn't hear what was being said, but he was sure he heard his father's name mentioned. Ozpin maintained his calm demeanour throughout, but Jaune was certain he saw the man wince at least once.

With a curt nod of her head in Jaune's direction, Goodwitch strode out of the room leaving him alone with the headmaster. As they had covered Jaune's additional training and Ozpin hadn't mentioned Nora stealing pancake ingredients from the kitchens yet, he had no idea what was left to discuss.

"I must say, I was extremely impressed with your performance today, Mister Arc. You displayed some real leadership qualities, which is something that is rare commodity, particularly in your age group."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Jaune said, feeling surprised at being singled out. Everyone did well today, he thought.

"I suppose coming from a family of warriors such as the Arcs it's no surprise you would display such abilities," the headmaster continued. "Both your father and grandfather led their own teams, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did."

"Hmm, and of course, the Arcs have a long and distinguished history as warriors, first as soldiers of Vale, and then more recently as Hunters."

"That's quite correct, although I can't say I know much about our older history. I didn't realise even that the Arcs fought for Vale itself," Jaune admitted.

"Oh, yes. Your family played a very special role in the Great War, you know. Has your father not told you about it?"

"Umm, no. I'm not even sure he knows about that. I mean, he's told me lots about my family's history as Hunters and Huntresses, but he's never mention anything that happened before that. I kinda imagine he'd have brought it up, if he knew."

"Quite possible," Ozpin admitted. "Let's just say that one of your ancestors was there at that final battle in Vacuo, and played a prominent role. You're familiar with that battle, of course?"

"Oh, yeah, naturally! Everyone's heard of that battle. Mantle and Mistral tried to take over the Dust mines in Vacuo, and the army of Vale fought alongside the forces of Vacuo to defeat them. That's how the war ended and the Treaty of Vytal got signed."

"A succinct description of events, Mr Arc, if one somewhat lacking in detail. Still, I won't lecture you now on the battle's finer points as you will be covering that in class this year. Suffice to say it was the King of Vale's finest hour, and his swansong, of course."

"Yeah, he abdicated after the battle, didn't he?" Jaune asked. "I always wondered why he did that."

"That is a very good question, and one to which the answer is known only by a surprisingly small number of people," Ozpin said. "The official reason given was that the King felt that if he retained his position there could never truly be peace. He stepped aside so democratic governments could be formed and there would be no suggestion of dictatorship. There were still a lot of bitter people after the final battle, especially in Mistral and Mantle, or Atlas as the latter became. It's easier to direct your hate at a single person rather than an elected group, after all."

"You said the official reason," Jaune pointed out. "Was there another reason?"

"Yes, and a very simple and honest one," Ozpin confirmed. "You see, the King of Vale was, despite his towering reputation, a simple man with a good heart. He hated war, and despised the title of 'Warrior King' that had been thrust upon him. My understanding of events was that he saw the end of the war as an opportunity for him to leave that all behind and finally live in peace, without the expectations of the nations resting on his shoulders. I also heard rumours of another, more personal reason he had for stepping down."

"What was that?" Jaune asked, fascinated.

"He fell in love with a commoner," Ozpin explained. "It was said that the girl was a simple servant in his court, but the day the King laid his eyes on her it was love at first sight. The girl returned his feelings, apparently, and there we had the potential of a tragic romance story. A lofty, revered King and the low-born servant girl, destined to be kept apart forever by social conventions and people's prejudices. Fortunately for them both, the King of Vale saw the opportunity the end of the war presented, and once he laid down his sceptre he could claim the hand of the young woman he loved. Of course, such a marriage would still have caused an uproar in polite society, so the former King went even further. Tell me, Mister Arc, what have you read about the King of Vale's life after he abdicated?"

"Umm…" Jaune pondered, trying to think. "To be honest, I can't remember reading anything about it."

"And you never will," Ozpin confirmed. "As soon as the new government of Vale was up and running, the king simply vanished, taking the love of his life with him. No one knows where they went or what became of them. It was simply announced that he had gone into retirement, but there are no official records of either of them after that point. It was as if they had vanished off the face of Remnant."

"Wow, I never heard that."

"As I said, it is a little known story," Ozpin reminded him. "Still, I find it reassuring. The King of Vale was a mighty warrior and some say hundreds died at his hands. He could, if he had wished, become the overlord of all four kingdoms at that point, but he did not. Instead, he walked away into obscurity just to be with the woman he loved. Such a tale gives me hope for humanity."

"You don't think it would have been better for him to take over, then?" Jaune asked. "I mean, you said he was a good man. Surely if he'd united the kingdoms and brought peace to the world, that would have been better? Hell, I bet if everyone pulled together and united against the Grimm we could have wiped them out by now. Besides, if he was an overlord, he could have just picked who he wanted to marry, and no one would have said anything."

"Power is a corrupting thing, Mister Arc, and total power corrupts totally. The King of Vale was a wise man and knew that," Ozpin disagreed. "Besides, there would have been too much disgruntlement amongst the other kingdoms at having someone from Vale rule over them. No doubt there would have been rebellions and uprisings, and there never would truly have been peace. What he did was a better way, trust me."

"Yeah, when you put it like that, I can see your point," Jaune agreed. "I wonder if he got to live the peaceful life he wanted. I hope so, it sounds like he deserved it."

"I hope so too, but I suppose we'll never know," Ozpin agreed. "Now, I think I've kept you long enough, young man. I'm sure your team will be wondering what happened to you. You head back to your room and ensure you're properly rested for the morning. You first classes will start then and I want you bright and alert."

"Yes, sir," Jaune agreed. "Thanks for telling me that story, sir. It was pretty cool."

"You're very welcome," Ozpin said as Jaune headed for the elevator. "You're very welcome, indeed."

* * *

Feeling strangely disconcerted, Jaune decided to take a short walk before heading back to his room. Perhaps the cool, night air would help settle his troubled mind. Almost unbidden, he found himself heading towards the main amphitheatre or, more precisely, the statue of his supposed distant relative that stood outside it.

He reached the statue and stood before it, its pale stone reflecting the light of the shattered moon above. It looked no different than when he'd looked at it just the day before, but perhaps Jaune's perception of it had changed.

When his father had instructed him to visit the image of his ancestor as soon as he arrived at the school, Jaune had imagined it was to impress upon him the status that the Arc name carried, and that he'd be expected to carry that name with pride. Now, he wasn't so sure.

The carved image carried no plate or inscription, so a casual observer would have no idea who the two warriors were. In fact, there was no specific way of establishing that they were even a Huntsmen and Huntress, other than they were both armed and apparently vanquishing a Beowolf. Come to think of it, had his father even ever referred to this relative as a Huntsman?

Perhaps, Jaune thought, this Arc was the warrior who had fought bravely at the side of the King of Vale. The man seemed to be armed only with a sword which looked much like the one that hung from Jaune's hip, and the man's armour and dress looked like a knight of old. What wonderful stories would this man tell if he could only talk! To have actually stood shoulder to shoulder with the legendary Warrior King. It was an amazing idea.

Letting his gaze drift, Jaune studied the female statue for the first time, trying to gather clues as to her possible identity. The girl was short and carried an axe that looked way too big for her to even lift, let alone use. Like the man, the young woman wore armour and a cowl with the hood pulled up.

A small girl with a hood and an oversized weapon? It looked just like Ruby, Jaune thought in amusement. He'd have to ask her if she had any relatives who might have fought in the Battle of Vacuo.

Not really feeling any less unsettled, Jaune turned and began to walk back to his dorm room. His mind was still full of thoughts about the mysterious King of Vale and how he'd just vanished into the populous so he could live a normal life. To him, it sounded more like the stuff of some romantic novel that one of his sisters might read, but Professor Ozpin had seemed to believe the tale. All that power, all that prestige and honour… if he'd been in the same position, would he have given all that up?

Sighing to himself, Jaune dismissed the thought and kept walking. He was no king, and he'd never held a position of power and responsibility. How in the world could he know what that great man had felt?

He walked back towards the dorm room at a steady pace, hoping that Nora hadn't broken anything yet.


	4. Chapter 4 – Intimidation

**Chapter 4 – Intimidation**

As promised, here is the next chapter, posted early to make up for my tardiness last week. This actually marks the halfway point in the story, as previously mentioned it only covers season 1 of RWBY. I'm already working on the follow-up, though, provisionally titled 'The Gathering Storm'. Hopefully, this weekend I'll actually have time to do some writing!

Huge bouncy thanks to Arnel for beta reading.

* * *

 _Jaune felt himself falling, his body tumbling through the night sky and causing his stomach to churn. Below him stretched a ruined wasteland of rock and sand, although it looked like no place he'd ever seen before. The landscape was littered with strange outcrops of purple rocks that seemed to give off a luminescent glow, which turned the low clouds a sickly red colour._

 _Downwards he tumbled, although strangely he felt no fear that he was falling. Instead, it was the twisted landscape that evoked terror within his soul. This place was wrong, he just knew it. It took a few moments for Jaune to realise that he was not falling straight downwards, but rather at a sharp angle. He flightpath seemed to be deliberate, like he was heading towards something, although what he could not guess._

 _He didn't have long to wait to find out. As he shot through the chill night, a structure began to become visible below him. As he approached it, a shudder rang through him. He was rapidly approaching a large, ugly building that featured a huge spire jutting from its center. The place was a twisted, gothic monstrosity, with massive stained glass windows and stone representation of Grimm lining its roof. The spire itself must have been hundreds of feet high, and was cast in a silvery light by the shattered moon above. An evil seemed to radiant from the very stones of the building._

 _Panic gripped Jaune as he flew closer to the colossal structure, for he instinctively knew only pain and death awaited him within its walls. He struggled and tried to alter his course, but he relentlessly plummeted towards its walls. There was something there… something to be afraid of._

 _Jaune watched in horror as a giant black shape appeared from behind the spire. It had gigantic ragged wings that beat lazily through the air, and burning red eyes. Although he could make out the shape of the beast, its black form was largely invisible in the night sky, something Jaune was glad of. Somehow he knew that to gaze upon the monster was to invite madness. He tried to close his eyes but he just couldn't. Something commanded him to look at the monster flying towards him, to gaze upon his own, approaching death._

 _He heard himself start to scream as the beast came closer. Nearer and nearer it flew, its eyes burning into him and filling his vision. Then, a new point of light became visible, just below those terrible eyes and Jaune realised it was a flame. The beast was breathing fire! He was going to burn! A fear so powerful it made his stomach cramp gripped him as just a moment later his whole world turned to fire. His hair was burning and he could feel the flesh melting off his bones…_

 _And from somewhere he heard a woman laughing…_

"Jaune? Jaune! Wake up, you're having a nightmare!"

The urgent voice slowly entered into his consciousness and he became aware of strong hands gripping him. Where was he? What had happened? Was he alive or dead?

Slowly it dawned on him that he was in bed and had probably had a nightmare. One of his sisters must have come to wake him up, Rose perhaps, or maybe Violette…

"Jaune, are you alright?"

Slowly it dawned on him that the young woman holding him wasn't one of his sisters, and he wasn't at home. Memory came flooding back to him and he remembered that he was at Beacon Academy, which meant the girl who woke him was Pyrrha.

"Uhh… yeah, I think so," he managed to mutter. In truth, the dream had terrified him and he was still feeling shaky.

"Do you often have nightmares?" Pyrrha asked him softly.

"I haven't had for years," he admitted while trying to calm his racing heart. "I used to dream about that night… you know… my sisters. But this… this was something else."

"What did you dream about?" Pyrrha's voice was gentle and sympathetic. Jaune found that it had a calming effect on him.

"Black wings," he spluttered. "Black wings and fire."

"Oh!" Pyrrha said, sounding a little shocked. "Perhaps it's because of the initiation. Heaven knows, the sight of that Nevermore was enough to unsettle anyone."

"Do Nevermores breathe fire?"

"Not that I'm aware of," she replied doubtfully.

"Then that wasn't what I dreamed of. Look, thanks for waking me, Pyrrha, and I'm sorry if my thrashing about woke you up. I'm okay now, really. You can go back to bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, and thanks again."

"You're welcome. Sleep tight, Jaune."

"You, too."

The warm hands that had gripped his arms vanished and he saw the outline of his partner returning to her own bed. Truthfully, he was more grateful than he could say to her for waking him from that terrible nightmare. He would have to do something nice for her to make up for it, he vowed.

Jaune lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. Try as he might, sleep would not come again that night.

* * *

Jaune stood in line for breakfast feeling strangely detached from reality and not a little irritated. The nightmare from the previous night was fading rapidly from his memory but he was still left with lingering traces of the horror his visions had induced. It had been years since he'd had such a bad dream and this was the first time it hadn't featured his younger sisters' untimely death.

His team had been great though, he had to admit. It appeared Ren and Nora had also heard Jaune thrashing about and Pyrrha's efforts to calm him. Nora had taken command of events after they had awoken and done her best to distract him by maintaining a constant chatter about the most ridiculous of things, and constantly dragging Jaune into the conversation. Her partner, Ren, was more stoic, but had offered a few sympathetic words. His eyes, however, seemed to contain an abiding sadness whenever he looked at Jaune. Perhaps Ren was no stranger to bad dreams, himself. Pyrrha was the most physical in her support, walking close beside him and occasionally rubbing his arm or back.

Currently, his three team mates were holding an enthusiastic debate about the merits of their favourite breakfast items. Nora's dedication to the pancake was already well known, but Jaune was a little surprised that Ren seemed to share her devotion. Pyrrha was fighting a losing battle with regard to convincing them a more healthy option would be a good idea. Jaune briefly considered coming to her aid, but as he fully intended to tuck in to an enormous plate of eggs and bacon he felt he might come across as a bit of a hypocrite.

He had nearly reached the end of the line to get served when suddenly he felt a hard shove against his back and he was knocked sideways. Irritably, he looked around and saw that a large, young man dressed in plate armour had pushed into the line in front of him.

"Hey, excuse you, asshole," Jaune snapped.

"Watch it, wimp, or you'll be eating breakfast through a straw!" the new arrival snarled, before deliberately turning his back on Jaune.

Maybe on a better day Jaune might have let this slide, after all, it was too early in the morning to want to get into a fight, but he'd been feeling irritated even before this jerk had started throwing his weight around. Without thinking, Jaune reached over and grabbed the neckline of the guy's armour and tugged hard. The line-jumper was caught unaware and off-balance. He stumbled backwards with his arms flailing, although he just managed to keep from falling over. He glared at Jaune with fury in his eyes.

"Hey, back of the line, buddy!" Jaune yelled, causing nearly everyone in the immediate vicinity to look over at what was happening.

"Oh, you are so dead," line-jumper growled. "Boys, get over here and help me teach this shrimp a lesson!"

A few seconds later, line-jumper was joined by three other young men. At this point Jaune remembered seeing the group before at the ceremony yesterday to announce the teams, but he hadn't really being paying attention to them. One of them looked scrawny to Jaune's eyes, and had a shaved head with a small, punky green Mohawk which looked ridiculous. Nearly as stupid looking was the next guy, with grey swept-back hair cut short at the sides. Even the only relatively ordinary looking one of the three rather spoiled his potential normality by affecting a permanent squint and a facial expression that made him look constipated.

What a bunch of freaks, Jaune thought.

"Okay, dumbass, me and the boys are going to teach you some respect," line-jumper spat, balling his fists and stepping forward. Not caring that it was four against one, Jaune growled and also raised his fists, but he was halted by a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, so you think you can just intimidate people by ganging up on them, do you?" Pyrrha asked the group of thugs while still keeping a firm grip on Jaune's shoulder.

"What's it to you, cutie pie?" line-jumper sneered. "You'd better get lost if you know what's good for you."

"If you think I'm going to stand by while you try and gang-up on my partner, you're very much mistaken. I don't know how they act where you come from, but I think you're an absolute disgrace," Pyrrha snapped.

"Okay, red, if that's the way you want it," line-jumper replied, leering at Pyrrha in a way that made Jaune's blood boil. "It's still four against two, and I guess we can have a little fun with you after we pummel old blondie here into dust!"

"Wow, he's dumb!" Nora's voice came from behind them. "Look, Ren, this guy's so dumb that he can't even count to four!"

"Indeed, he doesn't seem to realise that there are four of us here," Ren's calm voice agreed.

"Yeah? Well… you don't seem to have noticed that we're bigger than you, and we're all guys! I don't think we'll have much trouble polishing off a team with two girls in it," line-jumper growled, although he sounded much less sure of himself. This comment caused Nora to burst into howls of laughter.

"Really? You think we're weaker just because we're girls? That's hilarious!" Nora yelled. Practically the whole of the canteen had stopped what they were doing to watch the confrontation, and quite a few of the female observers were now scowling at line-jumper fiercely.

"Yeah, I do," line-jumper confirmed, perhaps demonstrating that he had some sort of death wish. "So what you going to do about it, little girl?"

"Well, if I wanted to I could probably break all of your legs without raising a sweat," Nora replied, grinning evilly, "but I might just let Pyrrha deal with you for making those sexist comments. Oh, you do know who this is, don't you? Pyrrha Nikos, three time Mistral Tournament Champion and undefeated in the arena. Perhaps you'd like to explain to her why you think girls are weaker?"

"What?" line-jumper gasped, looking at Pyrrha in horror. His three stooges all took an involuntary step backwards.

"Hello. I would say that I was pleased to meet you, but we both know that would be a lie, don't we?" Pyrrha said, her eyes glittering with malice. "I can't abide ignorance and stupidity, and you seem to possess both of those things in spades!"

Line-jumper glared at them for a few moments, presumably weighing up his chances against the group. He hesitated for a few seconds, before turning on his heels and stomping away, his goons close on his heels.

"This isn't over," he yelled as he headed off.

"Wait a minute," Nora suddenly shouted, pointing at one of the group. "Oh my gosh, has that got a mullet? He has, he has his hair in a mullet! That's so funny! Ha, ha, ha!"

The guy with the swept-back, bluish hair spun on his heels and glared at Nora, apparently fully aware that it was him she was talking about.

"It's not a mullet!" he yelled in a strange, warbling voice. "It's just my natural style."

"It's… a… MULLET!" Nora howled, barely able to speak because she was laughing so much. Quite a few people were now openly laughing at the unfortunate young man, whose face was rapidly turning red. He turned and hurriedly ran after his comrades, sniffling loudly.

"What a bunch of jerks," Jaune said as they vanished from sight.

"Indeed, but you shouldn't drop to their level, Jaune," Pyrrha advised. "Starting a fist fight in the middle of the cafeteria really wouldn't have been a good idea."

"Maybe not, but punching that idiot in the face would have been very satisfying."

"Yeah," Nora agreed passionately. "Perhaps some kicking, too. Giving him a good kicking would definitely have been a good plan."

"Let's forget about them," Ren said decisively. "Lessons will begin shortly and we haven't eaten yet."

"Yeah, breakfast is more important than worrying about those idiots," Nora confirmed.

"I guess you're right," Jaune said. "Come on then, team, we've jointly vanquished our first opponents, let's get something to eat to celebrate."

"Yeah!" Nora cried. "By the way, Ren? If you ever cut your hair like that guy we'll have to stop being friends. Never do that, okay?"

"But you're the only person who ever cuts my hair. You won't let me get it cut by anyone else," Ren protested.

"I'm just saying," Nora said, folding her arms and giving the young man a hard stare.

Jaune just smirked and picked up a tray. These next four years were definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

"Blah, blah. Blah, ba-ba-blah, blah. Blah blah, Grimm."

Jaune desperately tried to pay attention to the rambling teacher's supposed lecture, but after twenty minutes of Professor Port's endless monolog on his Grimm killing exploits, every word had begun to merge into the next. Honestly, at this point it was struggle to recognise the speech as even being in English. Was this really what Beacon was going to be like?

Letting his thoughts wander, Jaune saw his partner diligently paying attention to what was being said, but even her normally vibrant green eyes looked like they were about to glass over. Seated just beyond her, Nora had given up completely and was happily sleeping with her head resting against the desk. Ren was instead devoting his attention to the text book in his hands, so was probably the only person in the room actually learning something useful.

Slightly below from where they were seated were the members of Team RWBY. He'd missed seeing them at breakfast and judging by the way they'd all barrelled into the room just as the class was about to start, they had been running late. As team leader, Jaune had at least made sure his group were present before class actually started, but timekeeping clearly wasn't something Ruby excelled at. Never mind, she'd soon learn. His tardy friends were all displaying about the same level of attention as Team JNPR were, with the Weiss Schnee mirroring Pyrrha's role as the diligent student and Ruby mimicking Nora's sleeping habit. Unsurprisingly, Blake had a book in her hands, too.

"… well educated, and wise. So, who amongst you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do, sir!"

Schnee's loud declaration roused Jaune from his daydreaming and caused him to pay attention. It even awoke Nora, who raised her head and blinked owlishly.

"Well, let's find out, then. Step forward and face your opponent."

Confidently, Weiss rose and walked down to where the Professor was standing next to a reasonably large metal cage. Jaune watched in stunned surprise as the eccentric teacher literally smashed the padlock off the cage with his weapon and a Boarbatusk came charging out. Clearly, Professor Port liked his lessons to be a mix of extreme boredom and unexpected danger.

Weiss, however, clearly seemed to be a match for the angry beast, and used the Glyphs he'd seen her use during the initiation to stun the small Grimm before dispatching it with her thin blade. Despite one close shave when she momentarily lost her weapon, Jaune was extremely impressed by the beautiful girl's performance. He was less impressed with her attitude, though.

Throughout the fight, Ruby had been shouting encouragement and advice to her team member, something Weiss didn't seem to appreciate. She angrily snapped at her team leader, despite the fact that Ruby's suggestion to go for the Boarbatusk's belly had been a good one. Schnee had glared angrily at Ruby after the fight had finished, and the moment Port had declared the class over she had flounced out of the room with a haughty expression on her face. Ruby, on the other hand, looked downcast. Jaune's heart went out to the young girl. It must be hard to be the leader of a group of older and apparently more experienced fighters.

Still, Weiss's reaction was inappropriate, Jaune thought. In combat, it was vital that you followed orders and fought as a unit. While he could understand why someone like Schnee would rankle at having to take orders from Ruby Rose, she had to learn discipline. Weiss would need to understand the importance of subjugating her own urges and desires, and learn to operate as part of a team. From the little he knew of her background and how she was raised, Jaune doubted that would be easy for the girl. Shame really, Weiss was stunningly beautiful and clearly talented. She would have been just his type if she hadn't had such an attitude to everything.

"Jaune, are you coming?"

He looked up to see Pyrrha on her feet and looking at him expectantly. Grinning ruefully, he rose to his feet and followed her out of the auditorium.

"Weiss certainly seemed upset, didn't she?" Pyrrha commented as they walked.

"Unfortunately, I'm beginning to think that's her default setting," Jaune responded.

Pyrrha actually giggled.

"You might be right, Jaune," she agreed.

* * *

Dinner that evening came as a welcome relief. Fortunately, after Professor Port's class the standard of teaching went noticeably up, and Jaune and his new friends had lessons on world history, military tactics (which Jaune had loved) and even map reading. Ruby had proved rather poor at the latter subject and the remaining members of Team RWBY and Team JNPR all vowed never to put her in charge of navigation.

Weary and glad their first day of classes was over, the eight of them all headed to the cafeteria to eat. Weiss was clearly avoiding her team leader and was spending most of her time talking to Pyrrha, who seemed a little uncomfortable with the whole thing. As they took their seats, Jaune managed to manoeuvre himself between the two girls in an effort to give his partner some peace. Pyrrha clearly noticed what he had done and offered him a grateful smile.

Jaune had gone with the spaghetti and meatball option this evening and was happily wrapping the pasta around his fork when a cry of pain made him look up. Across the hall, line-jumper and his pals had surrounded a rabbit Faunus and the big jerk was pulling her ears while the others laughed about it. Fortunately, Jaune had managed to avoid the group of thugs throughout the day's lessons, and it looked like they had now found a new victim to try and terrorise.

"That moron again," Jaune snarled.

"His name's Cardin Winchester," Blake supplied. "The guy's a total pig."

"Disgraceful behaviour," Pyrrha agreed.

"We should definitely break his legs," Nora added.

Jaune stared at Winchester and felt anger brewing inside him. He hated people like that, bullies who always preyed on those weaker than themselves or made sure they had numbers on their side before they started picking on anyone. The guy was obviously a coward, not to mention a racist idiot. Before he could stop himself, Jaune grabbed the first thing that came to hand, which happened to be a plastic pot of red jelly, and threw it hard at Cardin. Jaune's aim was true, and it hit the boy square on the back of the head.

Winchester gingerly felt the back of his head, before staring at his jelly-covered fingers in disbelief. He then turned and looked around the hall angrily.

"Who threw that?" he demanded. "Come on, tell me now or there'll be trouble!"

"Hey, Cardin, can I wipe my bread across your head? I could just go for some jelly about now," Jaune called out loudly.

"You!" Winchester snarled and immediately started to head in Jaune's direction. Jaune rose to his feet, eagerly anticipating the coming fight, but Cardin's progress was suddenly halted by a stern voice.

"What's going on here?"

All heads turned to see Professor Goodwitch striding towards them, her ridding crop in her hands and a furious look on her face.

Cardin smirked. "This guy's causing trouble," he said, pointing at Jaune. "He started throwing food around like a little kid."

"Maybe I just didn't like the way you and your goons were picking on that Faunus girl over there," Jaune spat back.

"What? What are you talking about? Me and my team were just having a friendly chat with the girl, weren't we?"

The other three members of Cardin's team immediately started nodding in agreement while Cardin shot a predatory stare at the Faunus in question.

"That's bullshit," Blake cried out, rising to her feet. "You were pulling the poor girl's ears and laughing at her!"

"Miss Belladonna, please, restrain yourself," Goodwitch said in a tone which left no room for argument. "Miss Scarlatina, come here if you would."

The rabbit Faunus gingerly rose from her seat and stood before the professor. Jaune wondered if the girl would have the courage to admit that Cardin and his goons had been bullying her, or if she would be frightened into silence.

"Miss Scarlatina, were these boys harassing you, or were you just chatting as they claim?" Goodwitch asked.

"No, they are definitely picking on me," the girl confirmed, her voice quivering with anger. "I was just sitting there minding my own business when they surrounded me and started insulting me. Like that girl said, they were even pulling my ears. It hurt and I asked them to stop, but they wouldn't."

"Well, Mr Winchester, what have you got to say for yourself?" Goodwitch demanded, turning on the boy angrily.

"That's a lie," Cardin snapped. "You can't believe a word these animals say, anyway."

"Why, you…" Blake exclaimed and made a lunge at Winchester, but Yang was quicker and managed to restrain her partner.

"I see," Goodwitch said, her voice colder than a winter in Atlas. "Mr Winchester, you and your team are to accompany me to the Headmaster's office immediately. This school has a zero tolerance policy with regards to bullying and racist behaviour. You, young man, are in a great deal of trouble."

Cardin snarled angrily, but sensibly held his tongue. His three team mates all at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Goodwitch then turned to Jaune.

"And you, Mr Arc, need to exercise better judgement. You are a team leader, remember, and should be setting an example. Throwing food around was not the correct way to deal with this situation, no matter what provocation you believed you had. I want you to complete a four page essay on what are the proper standards a team leader should be setting by the end of lessons tomorrow. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor," Jaune agreed meekly.

"Good, now, you four! Get moving."

With that sharp command, Winchester and his three stooges marched out of the canteen with Professor Goodwitch at his heels.

"You can let go of me now," Blake snapped at Yang, who still had a restraining arm around her waist.

"Sorry, Blake," Yang replied, letting her partner go. "I just didn't want you doing something crazy and getting yourself into trouble because of that jerk."

"Yes, the professor had the matter well in hand. I'm sure those idiots will get exactly what they deserve," Weiss added.

"Maybe, and maybe not," the rabbit Faunus said, her voice still laced with anger. "It seems whenever there's trouble involving the Faunus, we always end up getting blamed and those responsible always seem to get away with a light slap on the wrist."

"Was that why you didn't fight back when those jerks started messing with you?" Jaune asked. "I mean, I haven't seen you in lessons so you must be a second year, at least. You could have taken those morons, couldn't you?"

"Oh, yeah, with one hand tied behind my back, but it would have only led to trouble. They would have made up some bullshit story and I would have ended up being the one in trouble. Besides, I didn't want any of this getting back to my team. If they knew what those guys were up to I'm sure they would have done something drastic and, like your friend there, I don't want them to get into trouble because of those jerks," the girl explained.

"It's the same old story," Blake spat. "I had hoped Beacon might be different, but it's just the same as everywhere else. Faunus are treated like scum and if they try and complain they're the ones who get blamed for causing trouble."

"Oh, Beacon's not so bad. Those idiots are defiantly in a minority here, you know," the girl explained. "By the way, my name is Velvet Scarlatina. It's nice to meet you all."

"Hey, Velvet. Good to meet you, too," Yang immediately said, offering her hand. Everyone else offered a greeting, as well, as they introduced themselves.

"So, Jaune, that was a pretty good shot," Velvet said after he had greeted the girl. "It was so funny seeing the expression on that dumb ape's face as jelly dripped down the back of his neck. Sorry you ended up getting punished for it."

"Nah, don't worry," Jaune said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Like you said, it was worth it just to see the look on Winchester's face. Besides, I'd already had a run-in with that guy earlier when he tried to jump the line during breakfast. I was grateful for an excuse to mess with him."

"Maybe so, but Professor Goodwitch was correct in saying that wasn't the best way to deal with the matter," Pyrrha interrupted. "People like Winchester love causing trouble for others and he could have turned your actions around on you. There are other ways of dealing with his type."

"Yeah, like ambush him when there are no witnesses!" Nora said enthusiastically.

"No, Nora, that's not what I meant," Pyrrha said.

"It's a pretty good idea, though," Yang said heartily.

"No, you guys just stay out of it," Velvet disagreed. "If anything happens to that bastard now, you'll be the first people the school will blame. Just stay out of the way of those guys, but don't let them give you any crap, either. It's the best way, really."

"So they get away with acting any damn way they please," Blake said bitterly.

"Are you sure they won't give you any trouble?" Ruby asked the Faunus in a worried tone.

"Nah, trust me, once they see me with my partner for the first time they'll think twice before picking on me again. Yatsuhashi can be a little… intimidating if you don't know him," Velvet replied with a giggle. "Anyway, I gotta go, but I hope I'll see you guys later. I'll introduce the rest of my team next time, 'kay? See ya."

Jaune watched the Faunus girl walk away with a frown on his face. Velvet had seemed like a really nice person, and the thought that the likes of Cardin Winchester would label her 'an animal' just because she was a Faunus made his blood boil. Looking back towards his friends, it seemed that Blake felt exactly the same way, and was now sitting glaring at the table top with barely concealed fury. Why she was so angry at the bad treatment of the Faunus was a mystery, but he guessed she had her reasons, and maybe one day she would share them. Until then, he wasn't going to pry.

Whether Blake's teammates would give her the same consideration was another matter, as judging by the way Weiss was suspiciously looking at the dark-haired girl, she was going to start digging for an explanation pretty soon.

Suppressing a groan, Jaune turned his attention back to his rapidly cooling spaghetti and meatballs. His father had told him that nothing was ever easy in this life, and Jaune's first few days at Beacon seemed to be confirming this.

* * *

Several hours later, the two senior members of Beacon's staff were in conference in the headmaster's office. One of them was not happy.

"You were far too lenient on those boys, Ozpin," Goodwitch raged. "It was obviously that they were not in the slightest bit repentant of their behaviour, and you sent them away with little more than a slap on the wrist."

"Come, come, Glynda, assigning them each ten hours clean up duties around the school is not exactly a light punishment in the circumstances. Besides, we've made it clear that they are being watched now so hopefully they will realise that any further repetition of their previous behaviour will result in expulsion."

"Which is exactly what should have happened to them," Goodwitch argued. "That brat Winchester practically sneered at you when you were discussing Faunus rights with him. That boy is a born trouble maker."

"Sadly, I have to agree on that point," Ozpin allowed. "His father was just the same. Unfortunately, he seems to have passed on his beliefs and prejudices to his son. Even so, Cardin Winchester's actions so far do not warrant expulsion, and I will not judge someone on something he may do in the future. Besides, we don't have so many Huntsmen that we can throw out potential recruits so easily. We must do all we can to mould the boy and the members of his team into something useful."

"I suppose," Goodwitch allowed, "but if he starts throwing his weight around again…"

"We will deal with it in the appropriate way," Ozpin concluded.

Goodwitch looked far from happy, but said nothing further.

"So, what was your opinion of Mister Arc?" Ozpin asked eventually.

"Ah, yes, the pupil you seem to believe will achieve so much," Goodwitch noted sarcastically. "He threw food at another student, Ozpin. Do you really think that's a responsible way to behave?"

Ozpin just chuckled. "It seems like an appropriate action to me. Winchester was trying to humiliate poor Miss Scarlatina, and Mister Arc thought that by covering him in jelly he would return the favour. By the way, remind me to inform catering that we appear to be running low on raspberry jelly. I had to have apricot flavour on my toast this morning."

"Ozpin, this is serious! How do you expect a young man who acts so childishly to become a great leader one day?"

"Well, for one thing I don't think we should judge his potential future actions just by what he does during his first few days of school. You yourself had a few interesting incidents when you were here as a student, did you not? Just look at how you turned out."

"I never threw jelly at anyone," Goodwitch snapped, a little defensively.

"Anyway, I clearly see this incident a little differently than you," Ozpin continued. "For instance, I'm more interested in the fact that out of the whole cafeteria, Mister Arc was the only person who seem to notice Winchester's behaviour and did something about it. There were plenty of other Faunus students in the room, were there not?"

"That maybe so, but he still handled it the wrong way," she replied, although without her earlier heat.

"I agree, but remember, he has been in charge of his team for only a single day. You're being rather harsh on him if you expect Mister Arc to become the perfect team leader overnight."

"If I do it's only because of the expectations you seem to have of him," Glynda noted. "Is this one boy so important?"

"Actually, no," Ozpin replied, smiling over the top of his coffee mug. "In fact, this year we seem to be blessed with a number of other students with remarkable talents and abilities. Miss Nikos is the obvious one, I suppose, and I foresee a very important role for her in the future."

"Understandable," Goodwitch admitted. "Who else do you have your eye on?"

"Miss Rose, of course. I did go to all the trouble of getting her admitted to Beacon early, after all."

"Ah, yes. Miss Rose and her silver eyes. Do you really believe those old legends are true?"

"Actually, I do, Glynda. I firmly believe young Miss Rose will prove to be quite spectacular in time, and combined with Miss Nikos and Mister Arc, I think we are privileged to witness the start of something monumentally special."

"If you say so," Goodwitch said, although there was doubt in her eyes.

"I do," Ozpin confirmed, before taking a large swig from his cup. He may have gotten many things wrong in the past, he thought, but on this occasion he was sure he was right on the money.


	5. Chapter 5 – Reaction

**Chapter 5 – Reaction**

Hello RWBY fans, me again. I'm back with chapter 5. Time for a little Good Friday violence, I think. Actually, this might be the last chapter I ever post as I won a charity raffle at work and was given an Easter hamper as a prize. I'm currently facing death by chocolate and prosecco. What a way to go.

New feature! Brennus's RWBY rant of the week! This week – people already shipping Ruby and Oscar. Jeez, guys, they haven't even met yet! It could turn out that Oscar is about twelve and still thinks girls are icky. If the two meet and have some reaction to each other, fine, but don't jump the gun.

Thanks to Arnel for her wonderful beta work, as usual.

* * *

"Hey, Jaune."

Jaune looked up to see a depressed-looking Ruby Rose slide into the seat next to him. She immediately slumped down with her chin resting on her arm. Sensing that a difficult conversation was approaching, he closed his text book and placed it carefully on the table. He briefly thought about suggesting they take a walk, but the library was sufficiently deserted that they could hold a conversation without disturbing anyone.

"What's up, Rubes?" he enquired.

"Jaune, how are you finding being a team leader?" she asked. "You seem to be doing pretty well."

"What, you mean apart from getting dressed down by Goodwitch for throwing that jelly at Winchester?"

"Oh, yeah, apart from that. Besides, it was pretty cool seeing that jerk covered in goop. Shame you had to write that long essay as punishment."

"Actually, it wasn't that bad," he admitted. "I never thought I would end up becoming a team leader before I came here, so having to write an essay about what is expected of me actually helped focus some of my thoughts. Mind you, being a leader is pretty easy with an awesome team like ours. Pyrrha and Ren are pretty much model students, and Nora…. well, Nora is Nora. No matter what I say or do nothing is going to change that."

"He, he. You're probably right. I wish I had such luck with my team," Ruby lamented.

"I dunno, your team seems pretty awesome, too. What's wrong?"

"I… it's Weiss, mainly," Ruby admitted. "I think she resents the fact that she wasn't made team leader. I never know where I am with her. One second she says that I have what it takes and that she wants to be the best team member ever, and the next second she's criticising everything that I do. It's driving me nuts!"

"I suppose it's difficult for her, coming from her background," Jaune pondered. "She's use to being in control and having her orders obeyed without question. Having someone else in charge, especially someone younger than her, is probably a big shock to her system."

"I know, and I try and be considerate, but she still questions everything I say. She just has this huge attitude about everything… and she's just so superior all the time! 'I'm Weiss Schnee! I'm important! I'm an heiress!' She's just this pampered little princess about everything! All I want to do is be her friend and she just makes everything difficult."

"I see," Jaune said, unsurprised about Weiss's attitude. "How do Blake and your sister get along with Weiss?"

"Oh, Yang's got into a few arguments with her already, but nothing like Blake. Those two seem to hate each other, and I have no idea why."

"Blake's a… interesting character," Jaune noted. "She seemed very concerned about Faunus rights the other day. Any idea why?"

"Nah, I haven't, and that's what most of her rows with Weiss are about. Blake claims that the Schnee Dust Company treat Faunus virtually as slaves and get involved with some pretty shady stuff. Weiss, of course, gets furious at this and starts bringing up the White Fang and things like that. I dunno, I guess Blake must have been pretty close to a Faunus in the past, or something. Just last night she launched into this huge rant about how the Faunus are oppressed and that they have a right to defend themselves from injustice. She was really worked up about it."

"I can believe it. She nearly attacked Winchester while Professor Goodwitch was standing right there, remember? I wonder what her story is?"

"No idea, and she's not telling. I've tried to talk to her about it and she just clams up. A leader should be able to talk to her team about their problems and stuff, but I'm useless at it. Maybe Weiss is right. Perhaps she should have been leader."

"Yeah, 'cos she would have done so much better at talking to Blake, right? Weiss's behaviour just proves that she should never have been made a team leader. She needs to learn to start talking to people and not at them. Until then she'll never earn people's respect. Blake… well, I don't know what to suggest about her. She's wrapped up tight, and I suspect something in her past has made her like that. You can't force her to talk about that stuff, but you should make it clear that you're there for her if she does want to. Trust me, she'll respect you more for that then trying to force it out of her."

"Yeah, you might be right," Ruby said, looking a little more positive.

"As for Weiss, I suspect that you'll just have to earn her respect, and that will mean standing up to her, occasionally. She comes from a wealthy and powerful family, and I get the impression she doesn't suffer fools gladly. That said, she's got her head so far up her own ass that I doubt she's seen sunlight for the last ten years. I think all you can do with her is act professionally, but be prepared to slap her down if she gets too big for her boots. She's the type that will push your boundaries and try and take over if you let her."

"Yeah, I get that," Ruby admitted ruefully.

"Hey, just remember, there's no right or wrong way to be a leader. What works for one person won't work for another. You're a pretty carefree type of girl, but you also have a really positive attitude. Heaven knows, you're never going to be a disciplinarian, are you? And that's fine. Play to your strengths and run your team like you see fit, not how Weiss Schnee thinks you should. Your sister will always back you up, right?"

"Yeah, being on the same team as Yang is just fantastic, especially as we tend to approach things in the same way. Blake too, to a degree. She gets on really well with Yang and I can see they'll be great partners. On paper, we should be unbeatable as a team, but we're just not pulling together at the moment."

"Talk to Weiss. Remind her you should all be working together and get her to explain exactly what her issues are. Just try and talk it out. Perhaps if she explains what's bothering her plainly, you can see where she's coming from. From the little interaction I've had with her, seem seems to be living in the shadow of her family's name and reputation. Beacon is a chance for her to just be herself and she should use that opportunity."

"I'll try and talk to her," Ruby promised. "Hey, Jaune, this has been a really good talk. Thanks for listening to me. It really helps to have someone to bounce my problems off."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I might need to come and talk with you sometime after I've screwed up. I'm sure you'll return the favour."

"What, you mean like the next time you coat Winchester in food and end up in the doghouse?" Ruby asked mischievously.

"Yeah, exactly like that. I was planning on using custard next time."

"Good plan," Ruby said with a giggle. "Thanks again, Jaune."

Ruby stood and offered him a grateful smile, before surprising him by pulling him into a quick hug before she vanished in a flurry of rose petals. He stared after her for a moment before picking up his discarded text book again. Pyrrha would be upset with him if he didn't complete this assignment tonight.

"Good luck, Rubes," he muttered, glad that his team never caused him so many problems. As long as they kept Nora away from the coffee, that is.

* * *

"Come along, settle down, class," Goodwitch snapped, clearly irritated by the continued talking. "We have much to get through and limited time, so please be quiet and pay attention."

The noise amongst the students rapidly tailed off.

"Alright, as you are aware, today we will be running a series of sparring matches to help assess your abilities. I want everyone to pay close attention to these matches as I will be asking for comments afterwards. Now, who shall we have first? Hmm, Mister Winchester, let's start with you."

"Fine by me," the hulking young man confirmed, rising to his feet and walking down to the practice area.

"Now, who shall we have as your opponent? Let's have…"

"Actually, Professor, can I choice who I would like to fight?" Winchester asked.

For a moment Goodwitch glared at him, before a resigned look crept onto her face.

"You have that option, Mister Winchester, providing it isn't someone you've faced previously."

"Great, then I want to fight Jaune Arc."

"Well, isn't that a surprise," Jaune muttered from where he was sitting. Pyrrha laid a sympathetic hand on his arm, while Nora looked positively gleeful about the match-up.

"Do you accept the challenge, Mr Arc?" Goodwitch called.

"Yeah, no problem, Professor. I'll be right down," Jaune confirmed, before standing and making his way down.

"Put the bastard in hospital," Nora suggested.

As he passed down the steps to the practice area, Jaune's eyes momentarily locked with a pair of bright, amber ones, which burnt with a fierce intensity.

"Teach him a lesson, Jaune," Blake told him as he passed her seat. He nodded once, happy to comply with the girl's wishes.

Jaune soon reached the practice area, where Winchester was standing making a few experimental swings with his large mace, an eager grin on his lips. Feeling his anger grow, Jaune vowed to wipe that stupid smile right off the big oaf's face. He unsheathed his sword and extended his shield with a calm purpose.

"Alright, you know the rules, the fight will continue until one of your Auras dips into the red or you become incapacitated. At that point, an alarm will sound and you will immediately cease combat," Goodwitch instructed. "Do you both understand?"

Both young men nodded, although it looked like Cardin was barely listening. His eyes bore into Jaune's with a fierce intensity.

"Very well, we'll start in three… two… one, begin!"

As Jaune expected, Winchester immediately launched an attack. With his mace held high, he leapt forward before aiming a powerful blow at Jaune's head. Fortunately, this was exactly the tactic he'd been expecting, subtlety not being Cardin's strong point, and his shield was ready to receive the blow and angled slightly to deflect it. Winchester's mace slid off the shield harmlessly, and the big man had to duck rapidly to avoid Jaune's counter strike.

Perhaps realising his opponent wasn't going to be a total pushover, Cardin backed off and began to circle. However, it was only a moment or two before he lunged again, this time aiming lower, trying to catch Jaune's side. This blow was effortlessly blocked, too.

"Pretty fancy, Jauney-boy," Cardin snarled. "Pity you fight like a girl. Mind you, with hair like that, you could pass for one."

"Yeah, yeah, I really look like a girl, how terrible. Still, it's better than looking like a rock ape, like you," Jaune countered.

Whether Winchester had something personal against rock apes Jaune didn't know, but the comment did result in Cardin screaming in anger and launching a series of wild blows against him. Time and time again, the heavy mace crashed against his shield, achieving nothing more than deadening Jaune's arm slightly.

Breathing heavily, Winchester again pulled back. He glared hatefully at Jaune for a moment, before a sneering expression came onto his face.

"So, Jauney-boy, it must be nice to have a pair of pretty girls on your team. Shame a runt like you probably wouldn't know what to do with 'em. It takes a real man to satisfy women like that."

"Yeah, well, when you find a real man send him over," Jaune growled back.

"Nah, I'm quite capable of handling it, Jauney," Winchester mocked. "In fact, I've had my eye on that cute partner of yours. Shame the bitch has got ideas above her station, but I'll soon knock that out of her. In fact, that sounds like a lot of fun. She goes running by herself in the mornings a lot, doesn't she?"

Jaune felt his blood run cold.

"What's that to you, Winchester? Do you think Pyrrha would even give you the time of day?"

"Well, like I said, she needs an attitude adjustment…"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Winchester attacked again in an attempt to catch Jaune off-guard. The attack failed as Jaune managed to drive the larger boy back with a sharp jab of his sword.

"Do you know, Beacon has a lot of nice, out-of-the way places," Cardin continued. "I'm sure we could find a spot where me and the boys, and Miss Nikos could get… acquainted, if you get my drift. She might be all prim and proper, but I know she's just a dirty, little whore underneath. They all are."

A red mist formed in front of Jaune's eyes. The thought of this disgusting waste of skin even touching Pyrrha... something snapped in Jaune's mind and all rational thought vanished.

If Winchester thought he could unsettle his foe by talking in such a manner, he was unprepared for the fury he unleashed.

With a scream of insane fury, Jaune charged his opponent, swinging his blade wildly. Whatever sword skills he had vanished as he instead tried to pummel his hated foe through sheer force.

"What the…" Winchester managed to gasp as he was forced backwards by the tornado of blows.

Unable to contain his fury, Jaune struck again and again, his anger growing as Winchester succeeded in blocking each swing. Unconsciously, in his effort to destroy his adversary, Jaune let more and more of his Aura seep into his sword. Power seemed to be flowing through his veins and directly into his blade. He barely noticed a yellowish glow beginning to emanate from his weapon.

By now, Winchester had been forced to his knees and he held his mace in two hands just trying to protect himself. The strain was visible on his face and Jaune could see genuine fear in his opponent's eyes. He realised he liked what he saw and wanted more. He wanted Winchester to beg on his hands and knees. He wanted him to bleed.

"Mister Arc, calm yourself…" Goodwitch called out, but a moment later her voice was drowned out by a thunderous detonation which caused her to stagger back and nearly fall. Among the seats, pupils ducked their heads or dived to the floor, seeking shelter. For a moment, the blast echoed around the hall before silence fell.

Goodwitch managed to right herself before looking around to see what had caused the explosion. She gasped at what she saw.

There, standing in the centre of the practice area was Jaune Arc, his sword held aloft in his hands and a look of insane triumph on his face. Several yards away lay the still form of Cardin Winchester, with his limbs twisted and most of his armour ripped from his body. In horror, she looked up to the display screen above and was relieved to see Winchester was still alive, although his Aura had been depleted to nothing. His life signs were weak, however. Hurriedly, she pulled out her scroll and dialled a pre-set number.

"Get a medical team to practice room number three, now! We have a seriously injured student in need of immediate attention," she barked, before turning the scroll off without waiting for an answer. "Mr Arc, stand down."

The boy who had been up to this point glaring at the body of his fallen opponent, snapped his head around and glared at her. She could feel the raw power radiating from the young man and the dangerous gleam in his eyes sent a chill up her spine. There were not many times in her life that Glinda Goodwitch would have ever admitted to being afraid, but this was one of them.

"Mister Arc, you will lower your weapon and step back," she insisted, gripping her riding whip tightly in her hands. For a second, the teacher and pupil just stared at each other. Then, mercifully, the waves of power that flowed from the young man began to ebb, and he blinked several times.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"Lower your weapon, Mr Arc," Goodwitch repeated, although more softly. She'd seen this before – the madness than can possess a person in battle. Mercifully, Arc now seemed to be snapping out of it. Still looking somewhat stunned, the boy let his sword drop and he took a couple of steps back.

Feeling the worst was over, Goodwitch hurried over to where Winchester lay. Even to her untrained eye, she could see the boy had numerous broken bones and probably quite a few internal injuries. Blood was pouring from his nose and mouth, and she could hear him making a faint gaging sound. Quickly, she checked his airway for obstructions and tried to stabilise his breathing. Fortunately, a few moments later the doors to the room crashed open and a pair of medical staff rushed in. They hurried over and Glinda quickly moved out of their way.

Turning around, she saw Jaune Arc staring at the body of the fallen boy with an expression of horror on his face. So, it appeared Luc Arc's warning about his son's unpredictable powers had not been an exaggeration, after all. A stab of guilt filled her that she had not taken the matter more seriously.

"I… I did it again, didn't I?" Arc muttered in a sick voice.

"Yes, Mister Arc, I'm afraid you did," she replied.

* * *

"How is he?"

Glenda looked up to see Ozpin enter the infirmary. Wearily, she rose from the chair she had been sitting in and approached him.

"He's been taken off the critical list. The medics managed to get to him in time, thankfully. He'd punctured a lung which was rapidly filling with blood, hence why he was struggling to breath. Mister Arc managed to break no less then twenty-two of his bones, and it was one of the broken ribs was that penetrated the lung. Mister Winchester's Aura is completely drained and until it starts to replenish over the next few days the medics are keeping him sedated. They're saying he'll be bed ridden for at least two or three weeks, depending on how fast his Aura returns."

"Hmm, sadly Mister Winchester has never been blessed with an abundance of Aura, so I fear his recovery will be comparatively slow."

"If it wasn't for the severity of his injuries, I would almost be tempted to suggest the boy deserved it," Goodwitch admitted. "I understand that goading your opponent in the hope that they make a mistake is an accepted tactic, but some of the things he said about Miss Nikos were abysmal. If I thought for a moment that he actually meant to follow through any of those threats…"

"I'm sure he was just saying whatever he thought would have the greatest effect on Mister Arc. Mister Winchester is somewhat of a racist and a bully, but I doubt he would ever stoop so low. He does, after all, harbour a desire to be a Huntsman."

"Plenty of Huntsmen have gone bad in their time," Goodwitch pointed out sourly.

"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "What about Mister Arc? How is he taking this?"

"He seems rather distraught. I put him in a separate room and made sure he had a hot drink. I was afraid for a while that he was going to go into shock, actually. We'll probably need to send him back to his room shortly. His teammates were all clamouring to see him, especially Miss Nikos. I honestly thought she was going to try and barge past me at one point."

"Mister Arc already seems to have formed a strong bond with his team already, I'm please to say. I would like to have a few words with him before he is dismissed for the evening, however."

"Ozpin…" Glenda said, grabbing the man's arm as he began to walk towards the room where Jaune waited. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I feel this was all my fault. I said I was going to give that boy private lessons in controlling his power and I didn't do it. I'm afraid I let day to day activities get in the way and, well, I obviously didn't appreciate the urgency of the matter. Letting him fight the Winchester boy when I knew there was bad blood between the two was a bad mistake, too."

"I must confess I was surprised you had yet to begin instructing Mister Arc," Ozpin admitted. "Knowing your passion for passing on knowledge I would have thought you would have leapt at the chance to teach something a little out of the ordinary."

"As I said, I don't think I fully grasped the urgency of the matter. I know what Luc Arc told us about his son, but I've never really trusted anything that man said. Having to endure four years of his cheesy chat-up lines has given me a rather negative impression of him. Clearly, he was right to ask us for help and I should have listened."

"Don't beat yourself up about this, Glenda. Mister Arc's Semblance is a highly unusual one, the like of which has only been seen a few times in recorded history. You can be forgiven for not comprehending the implications of this power not being harnessed correctly. Most people's Semblances are extremely defined, but young Mister Arc's is so flexible and powerful, the possibilities are endless. I do have to say you are being rather harsh on Luc Arc, however. Despite his dalliances in his younger years, he was always an apt pupil, and marriage changed him markedly. You never did meet his wife, did you?"

"No, but if she managed to knock some sense into that would-be gigolo then she has my respect."

"Glenda, Luc was never that bad."

"You only say that because the man never spent four years trying to get inside your panties."

"A fact for which I eternally grateful," Ozpin said with a smile. "Now, I think I should have a chat with young Mister Arc."

Leaving his deputy in the infirmary, Ozpin headed over to the small side room in which Jaune Arc was waiting. He found the young man seated in a chair, cradling a cup of half-drunk tea, and looking utterly miserable. The boy looked up as the headmaster entered.

"Any word on Cardin?" he asked instantly. "He will be alright, won't he?"

"Yes, Mister Arc, he will be fine. He'll require a few weeks bed rest, but I'm sure Mister Winchester will be back on his feet before you know it."

"I never meant to hurt him that bad. He just made me so angry… with what he threatened to do to Pyrrha."

"I'm sure it was just a tactic to unsettle you, Mister Arc, and one that worked unfortunately well for Mister Winchester. I believe those threats, while deeply unpleasant, were just hot air. Besides, I'm sure Team CRDL would have ended up deeply regretting trying to do anything to Miss Nikos that she didn't wish to happen. Four against one would have been extremely unfair… on them."

"I guess so," Jaune agreed hesitantly, before he looked up at Ozpin with misery in his eyes. "So… am I expelled, then?"

"For this incident? Heavens, no. In fact, I think this reinforces the need for you to be here at Beacon. You, Mister Arc, possess extraordinary power, but it's a power that is wayward and unpredictable. Without proper training you run the risk of seriously hurting people anytime you happen to lose your temper. No, this power needs to be honed and controlled, and where better to do that than in a school that specialises in exactly that sort of thing. My only regret is that we staff here at Beacon let mundane matters get in the way of beginning your training earlier, and for that I must apologise. Your father was very specific in his requirements for you, and we have failed to meet them."

"Umm, that's okay, sir. I mean, you have a whole school full of pupils to worry about…"

"None of whom are capably of nearly blowing another pupil through a wall using just the force of their Aura," Ozpin interrupted. "Mister Arc, you have a remarkable gift, and I'm genuinely excited to see what you may eventually achieve with it. You should have already been given guidance to mould it, and that is our fault that you haven't. It's a shortcoming that will be rectified shortly, however. Professor Goodwitch will be sending you details of times for you to meet with her shortly. I trust you will apply yourself fully during your sessions with her."

"I will, sir," Arc promised.

"Excellent. Well, I think you better head back to your room now. I know your team are worried about you."

"I just hope people don't start thinking I'm a freak because of this."

"Oh, I suspect that a few inevitably will," Ozpin confirmed with a wicked grin on his face, "but I doubt any of them will say that to your face."

* * *

Warily, Jaune waved his scroll over the lock before pushing the door to his room open. Ozpin had assured him that his team was anxiously awaiting his return, but he was uncertain exactly what their reaction would be. He had, after all, nearly killed another student right in front of their eyes.

"Jaune!"

The second he stepped into the room Pyrrha leapt at him. For a second, he thought she was going to throw herself at him but, at the last moment, she pulled up short and merely placed a tentative hand on his arm.

"Are you alright?" she asked desperately.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine."

"What about Winchester?" Ren asked, having also come over to greet his team leader. Nora was only inches behind.

"Well, he is hurt pretty bad, but he's going to pull through," Jaune advised him. "He might be bed ridden for a few weeks, though."

"Pity he didn't die," Nora spat.

"Nora!" Pyrrha protested in shock.

"He deserves it!" the girl spat back. "After what he said about you…"

"Ah, you heard that, did you?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, although probably only the people sitting at the front did," Ren confirmed. "Nevertheless, nearly everyone in the school is now aware of what he said. It's made a lot of people very angry."

"Yeah, the rest of Cardin's team has had to go into hiding, apparently. Quite a few of the seniors are eager to have a few words with them, if you know what I mean," Nora told him gleefully. "Did you ever get to meet the rest of Velvet's team? They heard about it and, man, are they steaming!"

"Indeed," Ren agreed, "and I confess that I never hope to meet Yatsuhashi in combat. That man is a fearsome warrior."

"Coco isn't someone to be crossed, either, and she's definitely gunning for Team CRDL at the moment!"

"She doesn't need to, I can look after myself," Pyrrha said firmly, "but, Jaune, please, tell us exactly what happened. What caused that massive explosion back there?"

"I did," he replied glumly.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said, I did. It's my Semblance. I have a lot of Aura. An awful lot, actually. My Semblance allows me to manipulate my Aura in various ways, and not just inside me or in one, specific way. Sure, I can do all the usual stuff like healing myself or using my Aura to jump high, but I can also project it. On occasions, I've been able to fire waves of Aura out of me and knock anything down that's in my path. It's pretty tricky to control, though, and it's got away from me a few times. One time, I was training with my dad and he was saying things to deliberately fire me up. You know, telling me how useless I was and that I'd never be strong enough to avenge my sisters. I got angry and blew him through a window. He was cut up pretty bad, but if he'd hit a wall I think I would have killed him."

"Wow," Nora gasped.

"That's the main reason I came to Beacon, to train under teachers who are masters of controlling their Aura. I'm actually going to start having private lessons with Goodwitch in the next few days."

"Jaune that's… unbelievable!" Pyrrha gushed. "Oh, you have such potential! If you can harness and control this power, just think what a Huntsman you'll become."

"Yeah, and if I don't control it think what a menace to everyone else I'll be," Jaune pointed out.

"So, the only time you've actually injured someone is when you've been angry, correct?" Ren asked.

"Umm, yeah."

"So, logically, the only time you hurt anyone is when you're not thinking rationally. That implies this power is entirely controllable by you, assuming you have sufficient mental discipline. With the correct training I see no reason why you cannot learn to control it adequately. Indeed, I can immediately think of some meditation exercises that will help you."

"That… would be great," Jaune admitted.

"It will be my pleasure. In truth, I'm as excited as Pyrrha is to see what you might achieve with this power," Ren told him.

"Oh, Ren, you're so smart," Nora cooed.

It might have been Jaune's imagination, but he was sure that he saw his stoic friend's cheeks redden a little.

"Well, that's decided," Pyrrha announced. "We'll help you in whatever way we can. Between us and the additional lessons you're going to take, I'm sure you'll have your Semblance under control in no…"

Pyrrha was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Being the nearest, she opened the door to reveal Ruby, Blake and Yang all standing there looking worried.

"Umm, hi!" said Ruby. "We kinda heard voices and wondered if Jaune was back? Is he okay?"

"Hi, Ruby," called Jaune from where he was standing. "Yeah, no worries, I'm fine."

"That's great! I was really worried that you… awk!"

Ruby suddenly found herself roughly shoved to one side and an imperious Weiss stomped into the room before marching right up to Jaune.

"You idiot!" she raged. "Don't you know how dangerous your little stunt was? You could have blown both you and that caveman Winchester sky high! What type of Dust did you use, anyway? I didn't notice a signature colour, at all."

"He didn't use Dust, Weiss," Pyrrha said.

"Ridiculous, of course he did. How could he have created an explosion that size without using it?" Schnee demanded.

There was a rasping sound of metal on metal, and Weiss jumped backwards as Jaune drew his sword from its sheath.

"Look at my weapon, Weiss. Do you see any capacity for Dust use with it?" he asked

Weiss carefully examined the blade. "No," she began, "but you could have…"

Snap! Jaune extended his shield and allowed her to examine that, as well. She looked at it in puzzlement, again seeing no signs of Dust use.

"Then how did you…"

"It was his Semblance, Weiss," Pyrrha explained, perhaps thinking that the girl in white would be more likely to believe her than Jaune himself. "Jaune has an incredibly strong Aura, and is able to project it forcefully. It's unpredictable, however, and that is one of the reasons he's here at Beacon, to learn how to fully control it. Jaune will be starting private lessons with Professor Goodwitch shortly."

"Wow, and I thought I could make things go with a bang!" Yang exclaimed. "Hey, Jaune, we should team up. Just think of the fireworks we could produce together."

"More like level the school," Blake noted. "Still, I've never seen anyone do something like that before. It's pretty impressive."

Jaune suddenly jumped as Weiss's face appeared just inches in front of his. She looked at him like he was some rare insect she had discovered and was about to dissect.

"Hmm, you don't look remarkable, at all," she noted, prodding his face with her finger a few times. "Are you sure you didn't smuggle a vial of Dust into the sparing match?"

"Cut that out," Jaune protested, swatting her inquisitive finger away. "No, I didn't. Besides, I wouldn't be having these lessons with Goodwitch if this wasn't an actual thing now, would I?"

"Humph! That remains to be seen. As long as you're not using Dust crystals in an irresponsible manner, that's all that matters. I'll bid you goodnight."

Weiss turned on her heels and marched out of the room without a backwards glance.

"I miss her already," Nora exclaimed with a sour expression on her face.

"Honestly, that girl is going to drive me mad," Blake snarled. "She is so full of herself! She's been ranting about Jaune recklessly using Dust for the last hour, and now she's found out he wasn't, does she apologise or admit she was wrong? No! Little, Miss Perfect there would never do that, would she? I'm about sick of her arrogance and petty prejudices."

"Oh, come on, Blake. She's not that bad," Ruby said.

"Yes, she is," Yang and Blake replied in chorus.

"She… can be a little difficult to deal with," Pyrrha admitted diplomatically.

"I just think she needs time to settle. She's opening up… a little," Ruby insisted.

"Too little, too late," Blake snapped. "Honestly, if she starts one of her rants about Faunus and the White Fang again, I swear I'll…"

"Why is this so important to you, Blake?" Jaune asked softly. "You seem really passionate about Faunus rights. Are you friends with someone who was badly treated, or something?"

"I…I… umm," Blake spluttered, just for a second looking rather panicky, but then the mask of indifference that she normally wore reappeared. "That's my business. I'm going to bed."

And with that, she walked out of the room, admittedly with rather more composure than Weiss did.

"Sorry, I guess I hit a nerve with her," Jaune said, apologising to Yang and Ruby.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Yang told him. "She's close-lipped with us, too. She's definitely keeping some deep, dark secret. I just wish she would trust us with it."

"Yeah, between the two of them, our team doesn't have much togetherness," Ruby complained sadly.

"Hey, you're doing fine. Did you have that talk with Weiss like I suggested?" Jaune asked.

"Not yet. I was going to do it tonight, actually, but I got side tracked after you blew Cardin up."

"See, that's one thing in your favour. Your team might be bickering, but at least none of them are responsible for putting a fellow student in the hospital," he pointed out with forced humour.

"Even if he deserved it!" Nora added fiercely.

"Amen to that," Yang agreed.

"Thanks, Jaune. I'm glad you're okay. We'll talk again soon, okay?" Ruby said, sounding a little despondent. Jaune gave her a smile of encouragement as she slouched out of the door. Yang offered him a quick wink and a thumbs-up, before she followed her sister. Pyrrha closed the door behind the girl and looked around at the other three.

"Well, thank heavens we all get along so well. It must be dreadful to be on a team that's so divided," she noted.

"Indeed, we are lucky, indeed," Ren agreed.

Jaune nodded. When his father had lectured him on the value of finding a good team, he'd been rather sceptical of the idea. Knowing that most teams were put together randomly, it seemed too much of an ask to expect four complete strangers to mesh into a tightknit unit quickly, assuming that they ever did. However, even after just a couple of days Jaune knew that he could trust these three with his life, and that he would in turn do anything for them. Team JNPR was up and running, and nothing would stand in their path.

And if Cardin Winchester and his cronies did try and do anything to Pyrrha, Jaune vowed that they would find themselves loosing body parts at a rapid rate.


	6. Chapter 6 - Chastisement

**Chapter 6 - Chastisement **

As it's a Bank Holiday here in sunny overcast old England, I thought I'd post another chapter a little earlier than expected. As you can see, I haven't suffered death my chocolate yet, although my stash has diminished alarmingly. Sadly, I can't just burp out all the weight gain like Nora does.

Brennus's RWBY rant, No 2: people moaning (mainly on the Rooster Teeth site) that 'nothing happened' during season 4. Obviously, all right-thinking people realise that more happened in the last season than the other three combined, certainly in terms of character and plot development, introduction of new characters and locations, and just generally telling us about the world of Remnant. Hell, we actually got to find out what the bad guys big plan is – that's pretty important. What these people really mean is that there wasn't a fight scene every five minutes, and without characters hitting each other with sharp, pointy thinks all the time, they get bored. Seriously, if you are one of those people can I suggest you stick to Pokémon and leave the rest of us to enjoy the show in peace?

Huge thanks to Arnel for beta reading. Can I assure her that no ABBA references appear in this story, at all.

* * *

Just two days later, Jaune found himself ensconced with Professor Goodwitch in a private training room, tucked away in some forgotten corner of Beacon Academy. Although receiving private training was the main reason for coming to the school, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous about the whole thing. Hell, his team had been more excited about it than he was!

"Alright, Mister Arc, the first thing we're going to do is officially measure your Aura level," Goodwitch informed him.

"You can do that? I mean, Aura is actually measurable?"

"Yes, although it's not often done. A person's Aura level will change throughout their life, mainly due to the level of training they receive. Aura is like a muscle, the more you use it the greater it develops. Taking a reading now will only be like taking a snapshot in your development, but it will allow us to help gauge your progress."

"I see," Jaune said, nodding. "So, how do you actually measure Aura?"

"Only certain, highly trained Huntsmen or Huntresses can do it," Goodwitch replied before looking at him sternly. "First things first; do you trust me, Mister Arc?"

"Huh?" Jaune gawped. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you have absolute faith that I am trying to help you and not injure or abuse you in any way?"

"Of course. I mean, you're my teacher, right?" Jaune confirmed, somewhat puzzled by what she was getting at.

"This is very important. Aura is an instinctive part of us and if we feel threatened it can react in unpredictable ways. Having already witnessed what happens when your Aura is unleased without due control, I have to say I have no desire to be blasted into a wall."

"Oh, I see," Jaune muttered, feeling rather ashamed. "No, I totally trust you, ma'am."

"Good, now the second thing to understand is what I'm about to do is totally necessary. For me to be able to get an accurate measure of your Aura it will require a certain amount of… physical contact. The system we use during sparring matches only gives a general reading, and has a high error margin built in, so this is the only way we can really accurately gauge your levels. Please do not misinterpreted what I'm about to do."

"I… err… what?"

"Just stand perfectly still," Goodwitch instructed.

Suddenly feeling extremely nervous, Jaune stood absolutely still. His eyes widened as Goodwitch came and stood just inches away from him, their noses nearly touching. In her heels, Goodwitch was slightly taller than him, and her green eyes looked down on him with a frightening intensity. Even more off-putting, this close Jaune could smell her perfume, which gave her a rich, flowery scent that made his knees tremble.

"Professor, what…" he began.

"Silence," she instructed and, before Jaune could react, she grabbed his head between her hands and firmly planted her lips on his.

For a second, Jaune's brain failed to comprehend what was happening. He stood, dumbly, as his intimidating teacher's lips caressed his. Gradually, as if a fog had started to clear from his brain, he stated to grasp was occurring. She was kissing him. Professor Goodwitch was kissing him. Her body was pressed right up against him and she was kissing him.

Panic!

Just as he was about to enter full melt-down mode, he felt his head being released and Goodwitch stood a step backwards. Her eyes were practically glowing and she was looking at him with a strange intensity which made Jaune want to turn and run out of the room. Was she breathing a little harder than normal?

"Mister Arc, you are quite remarkable," Goodwitch said in a breathy voice.

"What?" Jaune squeaked, his voice about two octaves higher than normal.

"Indeed, I have never encountered anyone your age with this amount of Aura in my life! You're already more powerful than most of the teaching staff here," she explained.

"Oh… good," he said, feeling strangely relived and disappointed, simultaneously.

"This changes everything," Goodwitch continued. "I had initially planned a program to nurture and develop your Semblance, but I see I must now concentrate on control. Do you have any idea of the power that courses through your body, Mister Arc? Bearing in mind your Semblance can project this power, we need to teach you how to control it as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I kinda get that," Jaune admitted. "Actually, my teammate Ren suggested some meditation exercises for me to do. I tried doing one last night but I don't think I achieved much."

"Yes, that is an excellent idea and I was going to suggest something similar, myself. Mister Lie seems extremely capable in that department, and I agree that you should continue to meditate under his guidance. In the meantime, we will follow a slightly different path."

"What are we going to do, Ma'am?"

"We're going to use this," she replied, and pulled an object from her pocket for him to see. Jaune examine it in confusion, before looking up at her.

"An orange?"

* * *

It was an hour later before an exhausted Jaune Arc was allowed to make his way back to his room. Never in his life had he felt so bone-crushingly weary or mentally numb. Goodwitch had been a harsh taskmistress, and demanded perfection from him. That, sadly, was not something he'd been able to deliver very often.

As he practically staggered into the room, he was unsurprised to see that his team were still up waiting for him. They all leapt to their feet as he entered, even Ren, and hurried over. Three sets of eyes looked at him worriedly.

"Are you alright, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked in a concerned tone.

"What's that in your hair?" Ren asked.

"Awe, you're all sticky!" Nora declared, experimentally running a finger over his armour.

"That's not… blood… is it?" Pyrrha enquired fearfully.

"No, it's orange juice," Jaune replied, wanting nothing more than to remove his armour and collapse in a heap somewhere.

"Orange juice?" three voices queried, simultaneously.

"Yeah, Goodwitch was teaching me to control my Semblance. I had to move a load of oranges using just my Aura without crushing them. It's harder than you think."

"Wait, you were moving fruit about using your Semblance?" Ren asked. "Why have you got so much of it over you?"

"Because I have lousy control," Jaune explained. "Nine times out of ten I ended up exploding the orange rather than just moving it. As Goodwitch was making me try and levitate them over my head, you can imagine the results."

Pyrrha and Nora both giggled at his plight, while Ren just looked thoughtful.

"You know, those mediation exercises I taught you will help with this. Once your mind is calm, you should be able to maintain a lot more control over your Semblance."

"That's exactly what the Professor said," Jaune confirmed. "In fact, she said I should definitely continue doing those exercises with you, if that's okay."

"I would be happy to help," Ren confirmed with a small bow.

"Perhaps we could all join in," Pyrrha added hopefully.

"Boring!" Nora called out. "Ren's tried to teach me meditation before and I just ended up falling asleep all the time. Honestly, 'clear your mind'? Why would I want to clear my mind? I have so many great ideas! You know, just yesterday, I came up with this wonderful idea how to modify my hammer. All I need is ten red Dust crystals, a metal spike, and use of an industrial welding machine…"

"Err, perhaps just Jaune, Ren and I will do the meditation, then," Pyrrha added quickly.

"Yeah, then I can spend more time in the metalwork shop. Ruby said she'd help me," Nora confirmed happily.

"Ugh, that's great," Jaune said, feeling like he was about to collapse. "Say, could you guys help me out of my armour? Using my Aura constantly like that just about finished me."

"Of course," Pyrrha replied instantly, and started to undo the buckles securing Jaune's chest armour.

"Thanks, Pyrrha," Jaune said gratefully.

"My pleasure, she beamed.

"I don't think we need to help. Pyrrha looks like she has everything in hand," Nora declared, grabbing Ren by the collar and dragging him backwards. "You might need a shower before bed though, Jaune!"

"Yes, you do have a distinct citrus smell to you," Pyrrha agreed with a giggle.

"I suppose I should," he agreed, although he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep at that exact moment. "Huh, you would think that someone with as much Aura as I apparently have would have a bit more stamina, wouldn't you? Goodwitch says I already have more Aura than most of the teaching staff."

"Did she? Does she have a method to accurately measure your Aura levels," Pyrrha asked curiously.

Jaune opened his mouth, only to shut it again rapidly. Despite his extreme levels of exhaustion, a loud alarm bell was ringing in his head and he realised that letting slip Goodwitch's method for measuring his Aura would probably result in both an extremely angry teacher and trainee Huntress, and he really didn't want to deal with either of these things. Displaying a sense of self-preservation that had served him well up to this point in his life, Jaune proceeded to lie through his teeth to his partner.

It was all for the best, really.

* * *

"It's good to get out of the school, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked as she walked through the vibrant woods at Jaune's side.

Jaune looked around at the red and gold foliage, before taking a deep breath. The rich, aromatic air of the forest filled him with a sense of calm, and he had to admit his partner was right – it was good to get out of Beacon for a while.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed. "You know, this place reminds me of the woods back home, during the fall, of course."

"I guess that's why they call this place Forever Fall," Pyrrha pointed out with a grin on her face.

"Thanks for reminding me," he replied in a flat voice which only made his partner giggle. She seemed to giggle a lot when they were alone, he noted, but rarely in the company of others. Why that was he couldn't begin to guess at.

"Where do you think Ren and Nora went off to?" Pyrrha asked, looking around.

"Who knows? Ren's probably trying to stop Nora from sucking Red sap out of every tree she sees. You saw how excited she became when she was told we were coming here to collect it."

"I hope he succeeds. I dread to think what Nora will be like if she gets too much sugar in her," Pyrrha said fearfully.

"Tell me about it. Still, let's just enjoy the peace and quiet while we can."

"Indeed. It's quite lovely here, isn't it?"

The two of them walked on in companionable silence for a while, the only sound to be heard was the gentle rustling of the leaves in the wind and the occasional bird. Jaune felt his troubles washing away as he savoured the tranquillity of the forest.

The last three weeks had been a hectic time for him. In addition to his normal lessons, he'd also been undertaking his additional classes with Professor Goodwitch and group meditation sessions with him team. Even Nora had started joining in, although generally she just dozed off rather than actually doing any meditation.

All this extra work was slowly starting to pay dividends, though. These days, he rarely destroyed any fruit in Goodwitch's sessions (now mainly apples and pears as Jaune assumed he'd single-handedly caused an orange shortage throughout Vale) and they were now working on fine control. Once he'd fully mastered moving whatever that day's fruit was through an obstacle course Goodwitch had created, using only his Semblance, she promised that they would move onto more practical uses for his power. Currently, he was desperately close to completing the course without touching any of the obstacles and expected to progress any day now. He was greatly looking forward to it.

Not everything was going his way, however. Cardin Winchester's father had apparently complained to the school about his son's injuries and had demanded Jaune's expulsion. Ozpin had robustly dismissed this request, but Winchester Senior was still trying to stir up trouble, he'd been told. Cardin himself had returned to lessons just two days previously, and still moved rather tenderly. However, as the large youth and his team now found themselves as popular as diarrhoea amongst their fellow pupils, they had sensibly decided to keep their heads down. Jaune hoped they had learned their lesson, but certainly wasn't counting on it.

"Ah, I think these are the trees we are looking for," Pyrrha declared suddenly, moving over to a large tree with a massively thick trunk. "I believe we will be able to harvest some sap from this one."

"Good spot," Jaune praised his partner and, from a bag he'd been carrying, pulled out a couple of glass jars. After thinking about it for a moment, he pulled out two more. "Just in case Nora drinks all the ones Ren collects."

"That's a very good idea," Pyrrha agreed, before bending down in front of the tree and cutting through the bark with a knife. Red sap instantly began to ooze out, and she quickly pressed one of the jars against the tree to collect it. Jaune copied her actions on the far side of the trunk, and it was only a few minutes before they both had a pair of full jars. They sealed them and placed them back in Jaune's knapsack.

"Well, that was easy," Jaune commented. "Perhaps we should try and find Ren and…"

"Jaune, look out!" Pyrrha cried and pushed him to one side. With blinding speed, she deployed her shield, Akoúo̱, and thrust it in front of Jaune just in time to intercept an object that was hurtling towards him. There was a sound of breaking glass as whatever it was that had been thrown shattered against her shield.

"What the hell was that?" Jaune demanded, having deployed Crocea Mors a fraction of a second after Pyrrha had yelled her warning. He scanned the surrounding undergrowth but saw nothing.

"Ugh, it was a jar of red sap," Pyrrha said in disgust after examining her shield. "Someone must have thrown it at you from the trees."

"I wonder who might have done something like that," Jaune growled, deciding to have a few words with Cardin when he saw him next. He was just about to re-sheath his sword when something made him pause. "Say, do you hear something?"

Pyrrha paused and listened carefully. A moment later, a swarm of large, angry insects burst out from behind a bush and started to head straight towards them.

"Rapier Wasps!" Pyrrha cried.

"Damn, Pyrrha, your shield! They must be attracted to the sap," Jaune yelled.

After only the tiniest amount of hesitation, Pyrrha hurled Akoúo̱ away from her. The bronze shield embedded itself in a tree some distance away and, as Jaune had stated, the Rapier Wasps immediately altered their flight path to follow it.

"That was deliberate!" Pyrrha raged. "Those insects are positively vicious. If you or I had been covered in that sap, we could have been seriously hurt by those wasps."

"Yeah, and who do we know that might want to have seen us attacked by a swarm of vicious Rapier Wasps and is out here with his team?" Jaune spat.

"Winchester," Pyrrha snapped. "So, it didn't take long for him to revert to form, did it?"

"No, but it will be the last thing he ever does!"

"Jaune, no!" Pyrrha said forcefully. "With his father still trying to cause trouble, the last thing you need is to be seen confronting him. Besides, we have no proof that it was him that threw the jar."

"Who else would it be?" he demanded. "I'm not letting that idiot get away with this, Pyrrha."

"I never said you should. I just think we need to think about how we handle this."

"I guess you're right. Revenge is a dish best served cold, eh?" he noted. "Come on, let's find Ren and Nora then head back. We've got some planning to do."

"Have I ever told you I love it when you're being sneaky?" Pyrrha said.

"No, but let's wait and see what I can come up with first before handing out praise, 'kay?"

"I have complete faith that you'll think of something appropriate," she replied confidently.

Despite his anger with Winchester, Jaune couldn't help but feel his heart swell with pride at his partner's words.

* * *

Cardin Winchester moved warily through the deserted corridors of the school. It was late, and he and his team should have been in bed, but an overheard comment made by a second year had convinced him that it was worth breaking curfew for the chance to have his revenge on that bastard Arc and his whore-bitch Nikos.

Gossip around the school was that the Mistral Champion had entered into a hot and steamy relationship with her team leader and, judging by the way that stuck-up cow fawned over the blonde idiot, he was more than prepared to believe it. The couple, it was rumored, were using some deserted classroom on the far side of the campus as a love nest. Having seen the couple sneaking off together earlier, Cardin and his team had decided to follow them in order to give them a little 'surprise'. At that moment, Winchester hadn't decided if he was going to ambush the pair when they, literally, had their pants down, or just try and blackmail them. It would depend on what opportunities presented themselves.

Stealthily, Cardin peered around a corner. He was just im time to see the pair enter a room towards the end of the corridor and firmly close the door behind them.

"We've found their little hidey-hole," he whispered to his three comrades. "We'll just give them enough time to get down and dirty before we pay them a visit."

"Heh, it's a bit rude of Arc to keep a babe like that all to himself, don't you think?" Thrush cackled. "Do you think he'd be prepared to share?"

"It don't matter if he does or he doesn't, 'cos we're just going to do what we want, anyway," Lark added.

"Just remember, I'm calling the shots," Cardin told them. "If I think it's better just to get a few incriminating photos, then that's what we'll do. I'm sure the press will pay a packet for some racy pics of Pyrrha Nikos. Plus, if we go public with them that idiot Ozpin will have no choice other than to kick them out."

"Awe, Cardin, can't we have a little fun?" Lark whined.

"Shut up, doofus, and just do what I say!" Cardin snapped.

Feeling enough time had passed, Cardin crept down the corridor with his stooges close behind him. When he reached the door that Arc and Nikos had entered, he paused and pressed his ear up against the wood. Hearing nothing, he slowly turned the door handle and pushed it open. Inside, the room was in complete darkness, and all was silent. Trying to let in as little light in as possible, Cardin slipped into the room, signaling his team to follow. The four of them shuffled into the blackness, their ears straining for the slightest sound.

"Okay, they're all in," a female voice said from somewhere nearby, causing all four boys to nearly jump out of their skins. The door behind them then suddenly slammed shut, and someone turned on the lights.

Winchester blinked for a second, before looking around him. What he saw made his blood run cold.

"Hiya, Cardin. Nice of you to visit," said Jaune Arc, who stood a few yards in front of them, his arms folded behind his back and a look of loathing on his face.

It wasn't the sight of Arc, clearly expecting him, that had so disturbed Cardin. It was the fact that at least twenty other people were in the room, all glaring at him with ill-disguised hatred. He recognized the rest of Arc's team, all of Team RWBY, a number of other first years, many he'd tried to bully, and a group of second years. Prominent among the latter group was the rabbit Faunus that he and his team had taken such delight in taunting. It was she who had spoken, he realized.

Knowing that whatever was happening wasn't going to be good for him, Winchester turned in preparation for running. Unfortunately, he and the rest of his team found their way blocked by a man-mountain who was leaning against the door with his arms folded and murder in his eyes.

"Forget it, Winchester, you'll never get past Yatsuhashi," the rabbit Faunus gleefully informed him.

"He's welcome to try," the giant in question growled.

As a seasoned bully, Cardin instantly knew what was going on here. If you're going to intimidate someone, you always made sure you had numbers on your side. Unless he was careful, he and his boys were about to be on the wrong side of a righteous ass-kicking.

"What's your game, Arc," he yelled, trying to look like the victim here. "I saw you and your girlfriend there slipping out after curfew. You two are going to be in big trouble when I report this to Ozpin."

"Out after curfew? Sorry, Cardin, you must be mistaken. You see, all of Team JNPR are currently tucked up in their room, just finishing off a homework project with members of Team RWBY, aren't we guys?"

"Yeah, we are," the girl called Yang confirmed. "Amazing how much work you can get through if you all work together as a study group."

"Yes, that's quite right," the snooty Schnee girl confirmed, "and as our two teams contain virtually all of the top students in our year, who do you think Ozpin will believe? You… or us?"

"I did happen to see a bunch of shady-looking first years creeping about, though. Perhaps I should report that?" a beret-wearing second year girl suggested, glaring at him over the top of her sunglasses.

"Enough talk," Valkyrie insisted, hefting her hammer, "let's start breaking their legs!"

The assembled mob took a step forward, causing Winchester to jump in fear. Behind him, he could hear Lark sobbing in terror. Likely the other two were in a similar state. Admittedly, it was all he could do to keep from pissing his pants, but at least he was trying to hide his fear.

"You touch me and you'll regret it…" he began.

"We're going to do more than touch you, you piece of filth!" beret girl snarled. "Messing with one of my team? They're not going to find enough of you to put in a handbag."

"I get to cut off their ears," the Faunus insisted.

"No probs, Velvet," the giant standing behind them rumbled. "I'll hold them down while you cut."

"Guys… come on! It was all just a bit of fun! I never meant to hurt anyone, we were just messing about, weren't we, guys?"

"Yeah, we were. Honest," Thrush agreed in a panicky voice.

"Yes, all just a bit of harmless fun," Lark added, sounding close to tears.

Bronzewing just grunted. Cardin had honestly never heard the boy actually speak a full sentence. Between that and the squinting, Cardin was starting to think that there was something wrong with him.

"Don't give us that BS, Cardin," Arc snarled. "You've made everyone's life miserable ever since you got here. Bullying, intimidation, racism, theft… I don't think there's a dirty trick that you haven't tried to pull."

"No… no! Really, I didn't mean any of it," Cardin insisted, lying for all he was worth. "I mean, yeah, I do like throwing my weight around a bit, but this is a school for warriors. If someone can't handle a little hazing, they shouldn't be here, right?"

"You worthless piece of crap," Arc raged, even angrier than before. "Hazing? Is that what you call it? The way you treated Velvet was just out and out racism, you bastard. I've heard the way you talk about Faunus plenty of times. What did you say? They should be easy to train as they're just animals? Why don't you admit it? You hate all Faunus, don't you?"

Cardin gritted his teeth and remained quiet. Probably anything he said at this point would be wrong.

"And what about what you threatened to do to Pyrrha? You were going to show her what a real man was like, weren't you? Whether she wanted you to or not. That's called rape, you asshole. You threatened to rape Pyrrha Nikos. THE Pyrrha Nikos. You're not worthy to even lay a finger on her!"

Keep calm, Cardin mentally told himself. Just keep calm…

"But maybe you didn't really mean it," Arc continued, "because, frankly, I don't think you would have the balls to do anything like that. Let's face it, you're all talk. You only pick fights with people smaller and weaker than you. You make sure you always have your little group of followers around to protect you… you're just a wimp, really. If you come face to face with anyone willing to stand up to you, I bet you shit your pants."

"You…" Cardin growled, his face turning an alarming shade of red. How dare this little maggot talk to him this way!

"Mind you, even if you did work up the courage to attack Pyrrha, I bet she wouldn't have even noticed you were doing anything to her. I mean, I doubt she'd even feel what you have between your legs, Winchester," Arc mocked.

Cardin lost it.

"Screw you, asshole," he bellowed, beside himself with rage. "Not notice? Oh, that bitch would have noticed! I'd have plugged her in every hole she's got until she screamed. Then I would have let the boys have their fun, too! That stuck-up bitch would have been begging for mercy by the time I finished with her!"

Cardin reveled in the shocked look that came onto Arc's face. He'd teach this wimp who he was dealing with!

"I would have done the same for that Faunus bitch, too, other than I wouldn't have wanted to catch something off her," he continued, loving the horrified expressions of everyone around him. "I'd probably just have made done with skinning the freak and hanging her from a tree. That's what all Faunus deserve. They're filth! Vermin! We should have exterminated every last one of them years ago. They train us to hunt Grimm, but they should also let us hunt Faunus, too. I'd kill them all if I had the chance."

"You're disgusting," Arc said.

"Nah, you're the disgusting one for putting up with those sub-humans. They shouldn't be allowed at Beacon. Hell, they shouldn't be allowed to exist, at all. They're mutants. In fact, there are far too many weaklings and bleeding-hearts at this damn school! Ozpin ought to thank me for trying to weed a few of them out and, trust me, Arc, you're on my list. You're gonna pay for what you did to me. You can't hide behind your friends forever. One day I'll find you, just when you least expect it, and I'm gonna crack your skull open. Hell, that goes for everyone here, too! I'll remember you! I've seen your faces. You're all dead."

"So, you really did mean it all?" Arc challenged.

"Of course I did!" Cardin raged. "I meant every last word of it. I swear I'm gonna follow through on all my promises, too."

"Thank you," Arc said in a strangely pleased voice. "Did you get all that, Blake?"

"Every last word, Jaune."

Cardin spun around to see the dark-haired girl holding her scroll up, obviously recording everything he'd said. Arc had tricked him!

"Would you mind sharing that with us all?" Arc asked.

"No probs! Sending it now," the girl confirmed with a happy smile on her face.

A second later, every scroll in the room pinged with a notification alarm. Presumably every single person here now had a copy of his unwitting confession, and Cardin knew there was no way he could ever hope to delete all of them.

"Okay, Cardin, this is the way it's going to be," Arc began, conversationally. "We all discussed what we were going to do to you, and we decided that you've got one more chance."

"What?" Cardin gasped.

"From this point on, you and your team are going to be whiter than white. If any of us even get a whiff of you misbehaving, this recording goes straight to the headmaster, and maybe the police. Let me spell out what that means for you. No bullying. No racist remarks. No belittling anyone. No attacking fellow students. No sarcasm. No pranks or practical jokes. Hell, if I even see you giving anyone a dirty look, it's all over."

"In other words, you're going to have to work pretty damn hard at staying on our good side," Xiao Long added threateningly.

"Do we have an understanding?" Arc demanded.

Knowing he was utterly defeated, Cardin could only nod dumbly.

"You little turds have gotten off lightly," Coco Adel added. "Personally, I wanted to make you bleed, Winchester, but I was persuaded not to. Just remember, you've pissed off a lot of people more powerful than you, and we can change our minds about this anytime."

"Yeah, and then we'll get to deal with you properly," Xiao long agreed.

"Now, get out of my sight, Winchester, and take your little bunch of ass-kissing morons with you," Arc barked.

Team CRDL made a rapid exit.

"I still say we were too soft on them," Coco huffed after they had left.

"No, it's better this way, really," Velvet insisted. "Just think, Winchester hates me, but now he's got to be pleasant to my face every day! I bet that will just kill him inside."

"Yeah, and despite everything, he might still make a half-decent Huntsman," Jaune added. "With the Grimm situation, we need every fighter we can get."

"Winchester's now living with the sword of Damocles over his head," Ren noted. "He knows that if he puts a foot wrong, we'll either send that recording to Ozpin or deal with the matter more… directly."

"Yeah! Directly!" Nora agreed, grinning evilly.

"Well, I just hope this is the end of the matter," Pyrrha said. "We have far better things to worry about than that idiot and his bunch of toadies. It won't be that long until the Vytal Festival, after all."

There was a murmur of agreement, and this seemed to be the signal for the group to dispense. The various teams shuffled out the door, intent on making their way back to their accommodation without attracting attention. As chance would have it, Jaune and Pyrrha were the last two remaining in the room. As Jaune began to leave, he felt a hand on his arm, restraining him.

"Yes, Pyrrha. Is something wrong?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha shook her head, and just smiled at him. Then, without warning, she reached over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, wow! Umm, what was that for?" Jaune asked, feeling his face redden.

"For planning all this. For dealing with Cardin in a sensible manner. I guess, just for being you," Pyrrha explained, her vibrant green eyes practically shinning.

"Oh! Err, thanks," he managed to blurt out.

"Anytime," she replied, her voice low and silky, before she followed the others out of the room.

Jaune tried to follow, but for some reason his legs appeared to have turned to jelly.


	7. Chapter 7 – Disclosure

**Chapter 7 – Disclosure **

The penultimate chapter of this story. I'm rather fond of this one, having a mix of fluff and more serious story building as it does. BTW, the monstrosity that Nora eats in the chapter really exists, I found a picture of it via Google when I was trying to find a suitably Valkyrie-sized snack to use. I felt slightly sick even just looking at it.

I also incorporated the anime meme of the indirect kiss here. BTW, has anyone noticed during season 2 episode 'Dance Dance Infiltration' after Jaune asks Ruby to hold his punch while he goes and to confront Neptune, she immediate takes a drink from the glass he handed her? Does this mean that Jaune and Ruby have actually shared a (indirect) kiss already? Hmm?

Huge thanks to Arnel, as always.

* * *

Jaune was constantly surprised what a clean, orderly place Vale actually was. Before attending Beacon, he'd only ever visited the city once before when he was just a small boy, and he'd come away feeling confused and slightly frightened by the bustling streets and large, intimidating buildings. Now, however, he genuinely loved the place.

Today was one of those rare days when he and his team could visit the city and not be limited for time. Being a Saturday, they had no classes and, by some miracle, none of them had any outstanding course work to complete, either. They had all day to explore and, thanks to a relatively early start, they could go virtually anywhere they wanted. If they could come to a consensus as to what they wanted to do, that is.

"Oh, let's go to the shopping mall!" Nora exclaimed, practically skipping down the street with excitement. "No, let's hit the arcade instead. No, the ice cream parlour! Yeah, let's go there!"

"Nora, we only have a limited amount of Lien to spend, so we need to ration it carefully. The ice cream parlour is expensive, and you know you'll want to try everything you see," Ren admonished her.

Nora's face fell, causing Jaune's heart to ache. He knew his two friends were orphans with no family to support them. Fortunately, as students of Beacon were expected to defend Vale virtually from the day they entered the school, they were paid a small subsistence allowance in addition to their board for their services, and this was really all Ren and Nora had to live on. Jaune at least had his income topped up by a small allowance sent from home each month, but they had nothing. Frankly, the thought that two such wonderful people had so little brought tears to his eyes. It appeared he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"Actually, I didn't have much breakfast and some ice cream sounds a wonderful idea," Pyrrha said quickly. "Why don't we all head over there as my treat?"

"Pyrrha, that's very kind of you…" Ren began.

"Nonsense. Do you know how many friends I had before I came to Beacon? I mean, real friends, not just hangers-on who just wanted to be associated with the reigning Mistral Tournament champion? I'll tell you: none. Coming to this school is the first time since I was a small girl that I've had real, honest friends. I've been lucky enough to receive lavish sponsorships and been paid for some extremely questionable activities, like being the mascot of that dreadful cereal. If I can't treat my friends occasionally under those circumstances, then I don't deserve you as friends."

"Wow, Pyrrha. Did you really have no one you were close to?" Jaune asked, feeling appalled that such a brilliant person as her would be so lonely.

Pyrrha regarded him sadly with her large, green eyes shining with moisture.

"No, Jaune. Beacon is the first place I've ever really felt accepted just as me, rather than just being regarded as the 'invincible girl' or whatever. A lot of that, I have to say, has been down to you. From the moment we first met you just treated me as a regular person and I'm so grateful for that. You three have been the kindest, most supportive teammates I could ever have wished for, and every night just before I fall asleep I say a prayer of thanks that I decided to come to Beacon rather than attend Haven. The thought that I might never of met you three… I just can't bear the thought of it."

Jaune stared at his partner, a little shocked by her emotional outburst. He'd known she been living under the enormous pressure of living up to everyone's expectations for years, but he'd never thought about just what a lonely life that could result in. Poor Pyrrha.

"Err, Pyrrha, I'm honoured that you think of me as such a good friend, and I think of you like that, too. Nevertheless, I'd feel like I was taking advantage of your generosity. Friends don't do that to friends," Ren explained, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of Pyrrha splashing out on them.

"Ren, I…" Pyrrha began but was interrupted by a sniffing sound.

Nora had grabbed Ren's sleeve and was looking up at him with big, pleading eyes. Her lower lip was trembling and she was making small, whimpering sounds.

"Please, Ren," she begged. "I want some ice cream soooooooooo badly! Please, Ren. Pretty please. Just a scoop or two. And maybe some waffles. Please!"

"Awe, come on, Ren!" Jaune added with a large grin on his face. "How can you say no to a face like that?"

Nora began to sniffle and Jaune knew Ren had lost. There was no way in the world his stoic friend would ever say no to THAT face.

"Well, I suppose we could… just this once," Ren said, his resolve laying shattered in piece around his feet.

"Then that's settled, then," Pyrrha declared. "To the ice cream parlour!"

"Hooray!" Nora bellowed, leaping in the air with joy and sending Ren flying in the opposite direction. Jaune tactfully helped his friend to his feet and offered him a look of sympathy.

"Don't worry about it, pal," Jaune advised him. "You never had a chance against those two."

Twenty minutes later the four of them were occupying a single booth in 'Snowflakes', the best ice cream shop in the whole of Vale, according to their advertising, anyway. As Jaune hadn't visited all of their competitors he couldn't comment either way. That said, judging by the general yumminess of the dishes that each of them had in front of them, they quite probably had a valid claim.

Jaune had gone for his old favourite, a banana split. This one was especially lavish with the sprinkles and chocolate sauce, which he definitely approved of. Pyrrha had opted for a strawberry sundae, which was as colourful as the name implied. Ren had picked a lychee and ginger sorbet, which seemed fitting for him, and Nora… well…

Nora had picked the motherlode.

On the table in front of her sat a full-sized dinner plate, on which loomed a creation described as the 'Wicked Waffle Tower'. This monstrosity contained no less than four, syrup-soaked waffles, all separated by no less than twelve scoops of ice cream arranged into three layers, topped off by whipped cream and chocolate flakes. Jaune felt like he was putting on weight just looking at it.

"Oh, Pyrrha," Nora sobbed, "this is wonderful! I'm so happy! You're the best friend a girl could ever have. I love you."

"You're very welcome," Pyrrha replied, a radiant smile on her face.

"Now, Nora, remember to eat that slowly," Ren cautioned. "You remember what happened last time you ate ice cream."

"Oh, don't be such a fuddy-duddy," Nora exclaimed, brandishing her spoon like a weapon. "Watch out, tummy, 'cos here comes the good stuff!"

She then proceeded to attack her waffle tower with a ferocity Jaune had only previously seen her demonstrate on Grimm. Her spoon was practically a blur it was moving so fast. In fact, he'd only ever seen Ruby move at a comparative speed and at the time she was being chased by a Nevermore.

"Oh, yuck," Pyrrha suddenly exclaimed, and turned his head to see her holding her drink and looking at it in distaste.

"Something wrong?"

"Yes, I picked this orange drink because I thought it would be refreshing, but it's so sweet and sickly that I can't drink it."

"Yeah, that brand of soda can be like that," he agreed. "Here, have some of mine. It's just plain lemonade."

"Thank you," Pyrrha replied, and rather shyly took the cup from his hand. Tentatively, she put the straw to her lips and took a sip. "Oh, yes. That's much nicer. I wish I'd selected this drink instead."

"No worries, we can share," he promised, but was immediately distracted by the sound of Nora's spoon clattering on the table top.

"Oh, my God, Ren! Did you see that?" she demanded.

"Did I see what?" Ren asked in obvious confusion.

"Pyrrha drank through the same straw Jaune was using. You know what that means? That was an indirect kiss! Pyrrha just indirectly kissed Jaune!"

"What!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "No, I mean… all I did was… I never…"

"Yeah, she just took a drink," Jaune spluttered. "She didn't… I mean, we never…"

"Hmm, I think you're right, Nora. That was definitely an indirect kiss," Ren agreed solemnly.

"I… I…" Pyrrha seemed momentarily to have lost the power of speech, and her face had turned as red as her hair.

"Ha, ha," Nora chuckled. "Don't worry, guys, we won't tell ANYONE about this."

"No, indeed," Ren confirmed, pulling out his scroll and eagerly beginning to tap at the screen.

"Umm, Ren, what are you doing?" Jaune asked nervously.

"Nothing," his friend replied with a mischievous smile on his face. Nora just cackled and began to attack her ice cream again. She lasted a full five seconds before she again dropped her spoon and this time grabbed her head.

"Aggghhh! Brain freeze! Brain freeze! Nora down! Nora down!" she cried, sliding under the table.

Ren just shook his head.

"That's exactly what happened last time she had ice cream," he said with a sigh.

* * *

The tired but happy members of Team JNPR made their way back to the landing area to catch an airship back to Beacon. It had, Jaune reflected, been a pretty damn good day, even if they had ended up getting thrown of the local arcade. Apparently, Hunters and Huntresses were just a little too good at the various games for the owner's liking. Still, Nora did manage to snag herself a giant teddy bear which she was currently hugging the stuffing out of.

All in all, it had been a relaxing, carefree day shared between four young people who, despite being randomly thrown together, had ended up the best of friends. As well as providing a welcome break from training, it also served as a reminder of what they were fighting for, Jaune thought. To see the citizens of Vale going about their lives in such a carefree manner was heartening, even if those people didn't always understand the dangers that the young Hunters sometimes put themselves through to maintain that peaceful lifestyle. Still, he didn't begrudge them their innocence. Indeed, he bitterly wished that he could still feel like that.

"Hey, guys!" a voice called out as they approached the landing area.

"Hey, Ruby," Jaune called back. "You guys been into town, too?"

"Yeah, Weiss made us go," Yang confirmed, coming over to greet them. "I think she had some plan about checking out the competition from the other schools as they arrived today."

"Do you meet anyone?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"Kinda," Yang admitted hesitantly, "although what we're supposed to make of the two we did meet, I don't know. They were… unusual."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed.

"In what way?" Jaune asked.

"Well, one was a monkey Faunus who rather than travel here through official channels decided that stowing away on a cargo boat would be more fun, and then there was Penny," Yank explained.

"Penny?" Pyrrha repeated, somewhat confused by the strange expressions the sisters wore.

"Umm, I think you'd really need to meet her. She's kinda difficult to describe," Ruby ventured.

"You got that right, sis," Yang snorted.

"Hey, what's with those two?" Nora asked, pointing over to where Weiss and Blake were standing. Their postures were confrontational and they appeared to be in the middle of a fierce argument.

"Oh, they've been at each other's throats all day," Yang explained. "We ran across this Dust store downtown that had been robbed. The police were blaming the White Fang for the crime and that set Weiss off on a tirade about how evil they all are. Blake naturally got upset about that and just insisted they were misguided individuals who had been forced into criminal activities because they were so persecuted."

"That's right. Blake is really hot on Faunus rights, isn't she?" Jaune said.

"Yeah, totally," Yang agreed. "Of course, Weiss is completely the other way. Her family's company has been heavily targeted by the White Fang in the past and she hates them all. So, our nice, relaxing day has featured those two arguing for two hours straight."

"Do you think we should do something?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not sure there's much we can do, sis," Yang said sadly. "They're both too entrenched in their own beliefs to listen to us. Perhaps we should just bang their heads together?"

"Works for me," Nora agreed.

"Somehow, I don't think they'd be too impressed with that idea," Jaune noted. "Ruby, did you ever get a chance to sit and talk with Weiss about her attitude?"

"Yeah, we did talk," Ruby confirmed. "She seemed to take on board what I said, too. She promise to be the best teammate she could be and has been pretty much living up to her word. This… this is something different, though. Blake and Weiss have always been a bit wary of each other, but they've never been this confrontational before."

"Oh, Ruby, you used a big word like 'confrontational'! I'm so proud," Yang exclaimed.

"Look, the airship is just about to arrive to take us back to Beacon. I don't think you can do anything right now, but when you get back to your dorm room perhaps you guys all ought to sit down and have a team meeting to try and sort things out," Jaune suggested. "You don't want this getting out of hand."

"I guess not," Ruby agreed with a sigh. "You know, there's a lot more to this team leader malarkey than I thought."

"Nah, you're doing great, Rubes," Jaune insisted.

"Yeah, I agree," Yang said, slapping her sister on the back hard enough to nearly knock her over.

"After all, you manage to keep Yang in step, and that's a minor miracle all by itself," Jaune added.

"Yeah, I… hey!" Yang protested.

Fortunately, the airship to Beacon arrived at that exact moment and Jaune was able to hop on board, thus avoiding the wrath of his fellow blonde.

* * *

Gritting his teeth together, Jaune struggled to maintain his concentration. His arm ached from holding his sword straight out before him for so long, and sweat was dripping down his face. It was circumstances like this, where he had to keep strict control over his power, that exhausted him far more than out and out combat. Still, that was probably the whole reason Goodwitch made him do so much of this stuff.

Trying to maintain his focus, Jaune concentrated on the apple hanging in the air about ten feet in front of him. Moving his sword fractionally to the left, he guided the piece of fruit gently through the smallest of the four hoops that the Professor had conjured. He nearly cursed out loud when, just for a second, his control slipped and the apple wobbled in mid-air, but he managed to catch it and guide the fruit safely through.

"Very good, Mister Arc," Goodwitch said. "Now, I want you to lower the apple down so it rests on top of that coffee mug I placed on the table."

Jaune tersely nodded. Goodwitch was again asking him to display some pretty fine levels of control, but he was confident that he could do it. Gently, he guided the apple towards the table situated against the wall. The mug was fortunately placed right in the center without any obstacles to manoeuvre around, but it still required a precise touch. Trying to keep his breathing level, he edged the apple closer and closer to its intended destination. Then, when he judged it to be just a couple of inches above the mug, he let the apple sink downward. The fruit hit the rim of the mug and rattled a bit, but quickly settled into position. He'd done it.

"Excellent work," Goodwitch said, sounding like she actually meant it this time. "Now, I think you've mastered that particular skill, so it's time to move onto something new. Something more practical, I believe."

Jaune watched in fascination as, with one wave of her riding crop, she moved a heavy display stand away from the wall where it had been standing and placed it in the middle of the room. With another wave, four glass bottles soured over and neatly lined themselves atop the stand.

"Now, Mister Arc, what I want you to do is to use your Aura to knock those four bottles off that piece of furniture. To be clear, I don't want you to try and lift them off, just project your Aura in such a way they are blown clear."

"Err, I'm not sure what exactly the difference is between doing those two things."

"Up to now, you've been moving objects by effectively wrapping your Aura around them and moving them about. In short, you are projecting your Aura onto a solid object so you have something to manipulate. This time, the only point when your Aura should be making contact with those bottles is at the moment of impact."

Jaune nodded, seeing what she meant. It was a subtle difference, but a very important one. Goodwitch was asking him to form his Aura into a projectile and direct it at the bottles. It sounded simple, but he really had no idea how to begin. How did you form your Aura into something solid? How did he even do that?

"Let me explain this a little more," Goodwitch said, clearly seeing he was struggling. "Every Hunter or Huntress who has a reasonable amount of Aura forms their own unique Semblance. In all my time teaching, I've never seen two exactly the same. Some are a very specific skill that the person can use in certain situations, others have a more general Semblance; something that they don't turn on or off, it's just always with them. You, Jaune, are different again."

"Umm, how so?" he asked, a little uncomfortable that Goodwitch had called him by his first name.

"Your Semblance isn't just a single thing. It is, for want of a better description, pure power."

"Come again?"

"Your Semblance is the ability to mould and project your Aura. As you have a great deal of Aura, and it's continuing to grow as you train, this basically gives you numerous options on how to use it. In truth, I'm excited about what you could eventually achieve with this skill. The possibilities are nearly endless."

"Oh," he murmured, shocked to the core. "Wow."

"Wow? That's all you have to say?" Goodwitch demanded with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it's just… I guess it's just a lot to take in," he admitted.

"That I can understand. But you can see now why I've been setting you the tasks that I have. I've been teaching you how to project this power and, more importantly, how to control it. I've been having you move fruit about all this time to teach you how to manipulate objects with a gentle touch. Having mastered that, we are now going to the other extreme – how to project your Aura with brute force."

"Okay, I kind of see what you're taking about, although I'm not sure how to go about it."

"Just let your Aura flow through your body," Goodwitch advised. "Get a feel for it, before you try imagining it into a shape. I suggest you visualise something simple, like a spear or a club. Go ahead."

Jaune took a deep breath and began to concentrate. Letting his Aura flow was no problem, it was the shaping of it that was the hard part. There was just nothing substantial to get hold of. It was like trying to mould thin air into a shape!

Deciding to take one stage at a time, Jaune just concentrated on letting his Aura flow through him. It was rare to summon it like this, with no clear purpose in mind, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. He could almost feel himself tingling with energy.

Next, he tried to decide how to project that power. Perhaps Goodwitch was right when she said it was all about imagination. That was not something Jaune would ever have professed to having in any great measure, but it might be the key to all this. Steeling himself, Jaune began to imagine a long pole stretching out in front of him. He tried to picture it exactly in his mind; the texture of the wood, the exact thickness of the thing, even the faint smell of newly-cut wood. He was sure the more detail he could put into his imaginary pole, the more substance it would have.

Then, when he was sure he had a firm image of the stick in his mind, he mentally jabbed at one of the bottles with it. It didn't have quite the effect he was hoping for.

Instead of knocking the bottle on the left off the stand as he intended, he managed to send the complete piece of furniture toppling over, scattering the bottles and causing them to shatter on the floor.

"Oops," he muttered. "This really is hard."

"Actually, Mister Arc, I'm very impressed," Goodwitch assured him. "I really wasn't expecting you to be able to project your Aura with any force on your first attempt. I think it's safe to say you definitely achieved that."

"Thanks," he replied, suddenly feeling drained.

"I think that's enough for today," Goodwitch said, perhaps noting his sagging posture. "We're actually far ahead of where I thought we would be at this stage, so finishing early today is permissible. Just don't expect me to make a habit of it."

"No, ma'am," Jaune confirmed, grateful for the break. "Thank you for taking time out to teach me this stuff. I mean, this must be your free time that I'm eating into."

"That's quite alright. As an educator, nothing pleases me more than instructing a pupil who actually has a desire to learn. Besides, what we're doing here is unprecedented. I feel like I'm part of something special here, Mister Arc, and as I said before, I can't wait to see what you finally end up achieving."

"Neither can I," Jaune admitted. "This all still seems weird to me. I mean, I'm nothing special. How come I ended up with this unique power?"

"Who can say? How the Gods allocate their gifts is a mystery. But you're wrong to say you're nothing special, Mister Arc. Oh, you may look rather unremarkable, but you've rather impressed me ever since you started here at Beacon. Just look at the quality of the friends you've gathered around you. I always think that's a good measure of a person. You're certainly nothing like your father in that respect."

At this point, curiosity got the better of Jaune. Normally, he would never have dreamed of asking his stern instructor anything about her personal life, but he just couldn't stop himself in this instance.

"Miss Goodwitch, you've mentioned my father several times now, and never in a very positive light. I get that he might have constantly asked you out during your school days and that probably bugged you, but I really respect my dad, and I'm really not comfortable with the way you're describing him."

Goodwitch turned and looked at Jaune intently. He suddenly felt a strong desire to be somewhere else. Anywhere else, actually. After a moment, though, his teacher sighed and looked away.

"I have to confess I was always rather disappointed by your father, Jaune," she admitted. "Luc Arc always seemed to have so much potential to me, but he wasted his time chasing girls, having parties, and hanging around with his hoodlum friends. If he'd just applied himself, he could have achieved so much."

"But he has," Jaune protested. "He's a truly great Huntsman! He's well known throughout the whole of Vale as being a great warrior."

"I suppose he is, but he only achieved that after he left Beacon. He certainly didn't cover himself in glory while he was here. If he'd just shown a little of the man he was going to become while I knew him…"

"If he had...?" Jaune pressed.

"Then things might have been different," Goodwitch replied with a sad smile, before unexpectedly changing the subject. "I've never met your mother, Mister Arc. Tell me, what's she like?"

"Oh, umm, well, she's a really great Huntress. The way she handles those two short swords of her's is just amazing! She's kind and considerate, and always has time for me and my sisters if we need it. She cooks great, too. Her lasagne is the greatest thing ever!"

"She sounds a very impressive woman," Goodwitch admitted. "What does she look like?"

Jaune gulped. "Well, she's blonde. Quite tall, too. She has this way of looking at you if you've done something wrong that just makes you want to crawl into a hole and die."

Goodwitch smiled.

"I think that's enough for today. Why don't you head out, Mister Arc, and I'll clean up here.

"Is… that okay?" Jaune asked hesitantly.

"Yes, off you go."

Nodding, Jaune turned and headed for the door. He had just started to turn the handle when Goodwitch called out to him.

"One more piece of advice for the evening, Mister Arc. I know of your past and I know of the burning desire that drives you, but remember this. Don't let your ambitions blind you to the world around you. Although you probably don't realise it, these are the best years of your life, and you should live that life to the full. Don't be so set on becoming a great Huntsman that you forget to enjoy yourself. Life can be lonely if you allow your goals to overshadow everything else."

"Umm, thank you, Ma'am. I'll remember that," he replied, uncertain as to what he was being told.

"Just don't make the same mistakes I did," Goodwitch told him, her face unreadable.

Not knowing what to say, Jaune just nodded and slipped out of the door.

* * *

With curfew fast approaching, Jaune hurriedly made his way back to his room. His elation at having successfully tapped into his power was tempered by his conversation with Professor Goodwitch. Although she hadn't expressly said so, Jaune had the distinct feeling that her words of advice had something to do with his father. Although he would never claim to be an expert on reading people, he was sure that he'd seen pain and regret in the stern woman's eyes. That fact that she'd quizzed him about his mother made him somewhat uncomfortable, too.

Lost in thought, he found himself standing outside the door to his team's room before he knew it. He was just about to use his scroll to open the door when he was distracted by the sound of raised voices coming from Team RWBY's room. He turned his head and tried to listen for a moment, but couldn't hear what was being said. A moment later, the door was jerked open and Ruby emerged. She was looking back over her shoulder, however, and didn't immediately see him.

"I don't care! Blake is missing and we have to find her," Ruby exclaimed loudly, before turning and catching sight of Jaune. Her face immediately fell.

"Umm, hi, Rubes," he greeted her. "Did you say Blake was missing?"

"Blake? No, I never said that," she said, her face going bright red. "No, I, umm… said… Jake! That's right – Jake! My pet praying mantis. He escaped and I'm going to look for him and…"

"Ruby?" Jaune interrupted her.

"Yes?"

"Do you know you're a terrible liar?"

"Aww," she groaned.

"Hey, Jaune," Yang greeted him, having come to the door. "I guess you heard that, huh?"

"Yeah. What happened to Blake and why is she missing?" he asked.

"Let's just say that she and the ice queen got into a bit of a disagreement. Some things were said and Blake may have let slip some stuff she shouldn't have. Let's just leave it at that, 'kay?"

"Okay," Jaune agreed, certain that Yang wasn't going to say anymore on the subject.

"I was just trying to stop my impetuous little sister here from charging off into the night to look for her," Yang explained.

"But we have to go after her!" Ruby insisted. "The longer we leave it the further she could have gone!"

"Sis, I very much doubt you'll find Blake if she doesn't want to be found, especially not at night. Just give her a little time and space. I'm sure that she'll be back before morning."

"And if she isn't?" Ruby pressed.

Yang sighed. "In that case we'll go look for her, okay?"

Ruby nodded, but looked far from happy.

"If you need any help looking, me and my team will be happy to help, I'm sure," Jaune offered. "After all, there are no classes tomorrow."

"That's not…" Yang began, but was interrupted by the door to Team Juniper's opening and Pyrrha emerging.

"Jaune, I thought I heard your voice… oh! Hello, Ruby. Hello, Yang," she greeted them in a faintly annoyed voice.

"And the mother hen has come to look for her little, lost lamb," Yang said under her breath.

"Oh, Pyrrha, I was just coming in," Jaune said quickly. "I was just talking to these guys. Apparently Blake has gone missing and they're really worried about her. If she's not back by morning I've volunteered us to go help look for her."

"Really? Oh my, that's terrible. Of course we'll help," Pyrrha said quickly.

"What's that? Blake's missing?" Nora's voice said from inside the room. A second later her head appeared from underneath Pyrrha's arm. "Hey, we'll definitely help find her! Ren's an expert tracker, we'll find her in a jiffy."

"Ugh… thanks, I guess," Yang said reluctantly.

"Ignore her. We'd really appreciate the help," Ruby insisted. "We'll meet you at breakfast and if Blake hasn't returned we'll organise search parties. If that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Jaune agreed. "Err, will Weiss be joining us?"

"Of course I will, you blockhead," came the girl in question's voice from inside the room.

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess we'll see you at breakfast tomorrow," Jaune confirmed, before following Pyrrha into their room and shutting the door behind them.

"What's that all about?" Pyrrha asked immediately.

"Frankly, I have no idea, other than Weiss and Blake have been at each other's throats for a while now. By the sound of it, something about Blake's past came to light and if I was a gambling man I bet it's got something to do with her enthusiastic support of Faunus rights."

"Maybe Blake is a Faunus," Nora suggested, "that would make sense."

"Other than she has no visible Faunus traits," Ren pointed out from his reclined position on his bed.

"No, if she was a Faunus she'd have a tail, or claws, or scaly skin, or something," Jaune pointed out. "There's nothing unusual about Blake."

"Apart from that bow she always wears," Nora pointed out.

"Nora, what could one little bow possibly hide?" Ren snorted.

"An extra set of ears"? Pyrrha suggested.

The room went deathly quiet, as the four of them exchanged shocked looks. Could Blake really be a Faunus and hid it from them all this time?"

Somehow, Jaune had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.


	8. Chapter 8 – Discordance

**Chapter 8 – Discordance**

The final chapter of this little story. By my standards, this is comparatively short but as I always intended it to only cover season 1 of the show, I didn't have a lot of material to work with. I am, however, well underway on the follow up to this story, entitled 'The Gathering Storm' which will cover season 2 and also generally head in a more AU direction.

This certainly was an interesting exercise for me, writing-wise, being my first ever non-Harry Potter story. I'm aware certain characters came out a little OC, but that generally was for comedic purposes rather than me trying to deliberately alter their personalities.

Finally, a big shout out to (ex-)Mrs Brennus for her views and comments, and of course to Arnel for agreeing to remain my beta despite my move out of the world of Ms Rowling's creation. Thank you, ladies, you're both wonderful.

* * *

The streets of Vale seemed unusually quiet for a weekend, Jaune thought. Despite it being a pleasant afternoon, he and Ruby were experiencing no difficultly in navigating the sidewalks of the city. Perhaps the fact that the clock was nudging towards four explained the lack of people out and about, although they'd been walking since mid-morning and it had seemed no busier then.

By popular choice, Team JNPR and the remaining three members of Team RWBY had split up, with each team represented in the three search party. Secretly, Jaune thought this was because neither Ruby nor Yang had wanted Weiss as company at the moment, and the regal beauty's feelings seemed to be mutual. Instead, Pyrrha had volunteered to accompany Schnee in their search around the city, taking one for the team(s) in his opinion.

While Yang had elected to accompany Ren and Nora, Jaune had paired up with Ruby, something they were both comfortable with. He's always gotten on extremely well with the young girl, and she seemed to trust and value his opinion. Together, they had roamed Vale searching for Team RWBY's absent fourth member with little success.

Ruby seemed to be becoming increasingly depressed at their lack of progress. They'd combed shops, cafes, bars, bus depots, and even the local garbage dump. In a desperate attempt to raise her spirits, he'd even treated her to lunch at his favourite ice cream parlour, but not even a large bowl of vanilla covered in strawberries would cheer her up. So, they kept walking, desperately searching for Blake.

"Ruby, do you think we should head back to Beacon soon?" Jaune asked presently.

"Oh, no! Not yet. I mean, it's still really early," she insisted.

"Well, okay, we'll search for a while longer," he agreed reluctantly. "Where do you want to try next?"

"Umm, how about the dock? Blake loves tuna and that place smells like fish."

"Ruby, that must be the most illogical reason I've ever heard."

"Well, it's worth a try!" she almost wailed. "I'm getting desperate here!"

"What has got you so concerned, Ruby, my friend?" a voice said from directly behind them.

"Eep!" Ruby squealed, turning on her heels. "Penny, it's you! Where have you been?"

Jaune turned to see a small, orange-haired girl staring at them with wide eyes. She was around Ruby's height, and Jaune guessed she was around the same age, too.

"Oh, I had to go back to Father. He doesn't like me wandering around by myself," the girl replied.

"Err, aren't you wandering around by yourself now?" Ruby asked.

"Why, yes. Yes, I am."

A long pause followed.

"Ooookay," Jaune said eventually, if only to break the silence.

"Is this your boyfriend, Ruby?" the girl called Penny asked, eyeing Jaune curiously.

"What? No, of course not! Jaune's just a good friend," Ruby said quickly, before muttering something under her breath that Jaune couldn't quite hear. He was sure he heard the words 'Pyrrha' and 'murder', though.

"Well, any friend of Ruby's is a friend of mine!" Penny declared happily. "Salutations, Jaune, I'm delighted to meet you."

"Yeah, hi, umm, Penny, was it?"

"Indeed. Now, what has you two fine people wandering the streets of Vale, and why is Ruby getting desperate?" Penny asked.

"It's Blake. She's gone missing," Ruby explained unhappily.

"Oh, you mean the Faunus girl," Penny replied.

"What? Blake's not a Faunus! Why would you think that?" Ruby cried.

"Umm, the cat ears?" Penny said, pointing at the top of her own head.

"The bow!" Jaune exclaimed. "Damn, Pyrrha was right. Well, that certainly explains why she's so hot on Faunus rights. But why hide what she is? Is she ashamed, or something?"

"No, it's not that. I just think she has some… history… she wants to put behind her," Ruby explained. "Please, Jaune, when you see her next, don't give her a hard time about it."

"No, of course not," he agreed. "But still, we have to find her first before we start to worry about that."

"Never fear, Ruby, my friend. I will help you find Blake! I won't rest until you are reunited with her," Penny promised.

"That's very kind, Penny," Jaune said quickly, not quite sure about the strange girl, "but we're only going to check around the docks before we head…"

Jaune's sentence was cut short be a loud explosion coming from somewhere up ahead. He turned to see a cloud of smoke rise lazily into the air.

"Oh, no," Ruby muttered.

"That smoke could be anything," Jaune pointed out, not really believing his own words.

"Wanna bet?" Ruby challenged.

"Nah, let's go check it out," he sighed.

"Absolutely! I'm right behind you," Penny assured them.

"Err, this might end up being a little dangerous. Do you really think you should be coming with us?" Jaune asked doubtfully.

"Don't worry, I'm combat ready!" Penny announced, giving him a snappy salute.

"Sure. Fine. Whatever."

After everything he'd encountered since he arrived at Beacon, why should he be surprised if this odd little girl didn't turned out to be a fearsome warrior? Hell, at this point he wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a killer robot in disguise.

"Come on, you guys," Ruby urged, and the three of them took off towards the docks at a fast pace.

While Jaune knew that Ruby could move like greased lightning at times, he was surprised that her friend Penny seemed to have no problems matching their pace. Indeed, as they approached the docks he was the only one breathing heavily. Of course, it wasn't a blow to his ego to be beaten in a foot race by two small girls. No way.

As they rounded a set of containers, the sound of combat became clear. Jaune could hear pistol shots mixed in with more powerful blasts, with occasional shouts and screams to add variety. It sounded like a small war had broken out.

"I'm sure that was Gambol Shroud firing!" Ruby declared. "It must be Blake!"

"Wait a second, Ruby," Jaune urged, pulling out his scroll. "We better summon backup before we go charging in. Besides, both Pyrrha and Nora would kick my ass if I didn't let them know what was going on."

"You call them, I'll go on ahead," Ruby blurted and, before he could stop her, she was gone. Penny offered him a cheery smile, before talking off after her friend. Jaune cursed under his breath and quickly selected Pyrrha's number. His scroll barely rang twice before she picked up.

"Jaune? Is that you? What's happening?"

"Pyrrha, I have to make this quick, Ruby has charged on ahead. We're down by the docks and there's trouble. We think we heard Blake's weapon being fired and there's lots of shooting. You'd better get down here," he told her hurriedly.

"We're not too far away. We saw the smoke and were wondering what was happening. We'll be there as soon as we can," Pyrrha promised.

"Cool. Can you let Nora and the others know what's happening, please. Gotta go."

Before Pyrrha had a chance to argue, Jaune hung up and started to run in the direction that Ruby had vanished off to. As he rounded the corner, he saw a sight that made his jaw drop.

Standing alone in a wide open space was Penny. Her concentration was focused in the sky above her, where an airship was struggling to break free of a mass of cords that seemed to be dragging it down, cords that Penny seemed to be controlling. Jaune would have stood there dumbly and watched her, but a shout from nearby made him look round.

There, about twenty yards away, a young man with blonde hair was swinging a staff aggressively at a group of masked figures who were threatening him with a variety of weapons. Jaune had watched enough news bulletins to recognise White Fang members when he saw them. Strangely, the person they were attacking seemed to be a Faunus himself, judging by the tail.

Drawing Crocea Mors, Jaune leapt forward and attacked the nearest White Fang member. One clean swipe knocked the man flying, as he clearly hadn't been expecting an attack from that quarter. Making the most of the element of surprise, Jaune stabbed the next Faunus while he was staring stupidly at him. The blow was enough to make the White Fang thug drop to the ground clutching his stomach.

The guy with the staff had clearly not wasted the opportunity given to him by Jaune's unexpected arrival, and had downed another foe with a sharp blow to the head. There were only two White Fang members facing them now, and Jaune lunged at the one on the right who was armed with some sort of flail. His foe tried to use his weapon to knock Jaune's sword out of his hands, but a swing of his shield deflected the blow, and he was able to follow up with a slash of his blade. The Fang member fell, bleeding heavily. Whoever these guys were, they weren't skilled fighters and their Aura was weak.

A screech of pain announced that Jaune's unknown ally had also downed his opponent. The Faunus turned and looked at him warily.

"Err, are you here with Ruby?" he asked.

"Yeah. Are you here with Blake?" Jaune asked in turn.

"Yeah. Guess that puts us on the same side, buddy. Name's Sun Wukong, by the way."

"I'm Jaune Arc. Is it even worth asking what the hell is going on here?"

"Ah, you know. The usual. The White Fang are collaborating with a notorious local criminal called Roman Torchwick to steal a major shipment of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company. No biggie."

"Really?" Jaune gasped. "Oh, that is so going to piss Weiss off."

"Oh, yeah. Blake told me all about her. She won't be pleased, will she?" Sun acknowledged. "Just as well she's not here to see this."

"She's on her way."

"Ah. Maybe we'd better finish off these assholes before she gets here," Sun suggested. "I doubt she'll be happy with us if they get away."

"Friend, you're reading my mind," Jaune agreed. "Come on, let's get them."

The remaining group of White Fang were clustered around another airship into which they had been loading the stolen Dust containers. They had stopped their work and were now standing alert with their weapons at the ready. With barely a shared glance, Jaune and his new friend charged towards them at full tilt. Some gunfire was directed at them, but Jaune swatted it away contemptuously while Sun just dodged it. A split second later, they were amongst the Fang members, scattering them in all directions.

This group proved no more skilful than the last, and Jaune took two of them down without raising a sweat. Sun was even more devastating, swinging his staff wildly and knocking the Fang members unconscious almost at will. It was all over almost as soon as it had begun.

"Blake!"

Sun's cry made Jaune look round. Being distracted by the Fang thugs, he hadn't noticed Blake Belladonna had been engaged in her own fight against a tall, orange-haired man wearing a snazzy white jacket and a bowler hat. It was clear that this man was a level of magnitude better than his associates, and Blake was hard pressed to block his blows. Sun took off towards them at a blazing pace, while Jaune quickly followed behind.

As soon as he was close enough, Sun leapt forward and slammed into the man with a two-footed kick, sufficient to send the villain flying. Blake didn't hesitate, and followed up with a couple of slashing blows with her katana which the man just managed to parry with his stick-like weapon.

"Watch this guy," Sun advised Jaune as he pulled up next to him, "that's Roman Torchwick, and he's bad news."

"Got it," Jaune confirmed, before leaping forward and slashing at the man with his sword. Torchwick not only managed to deflect the blow, but he also got off an explosive shot which Jaune only just managed to block with his shield.

No sooner had Jaune been forced back than Sun attacked again. He delivered a swinging kick, before his staff morphed into two nunchaku type weapons that also apparently doubled as shotguns. He alternatively battered and shot at Torchwick in a furious assault.

"Man, I've gotta upgrade this sword," Jaune muttered.

Impressively, Torchwick not only weathered Sun's attack but managed to get in a shot with his own, cane-like weapon. The villain's rounds were extremely powerful, and Sun was again forced back. A further slashing attack from Blake was deflected, too.

Jaune was just about to charge the man again when suddenly a red lightning bolt flashed before his eyes. The red blur resolved itself into Ruby, who swung her scythe at Torchwick with all her might. Again, the man managed to block the blow, but it drove him to his knees. Seeing his chance, Jaune darted in and stabbed his sword at the orange-haired man. Torchwick managed to squirm out of the way of the blow, but the blade still managed to slice along the man's arm, causing him to bellow in pain.

"Damn you brats!" Torchwick shouted, and aimed his weapon directly at the ground. There was a blinding flash, and Jaune felt himself blown backwards. When the smoke had cleared, he saw Torchwick running towards the last airship at a furious speed.

"He's getting away!" Blake shouted.

"Get him!" Ruby yelled, but it was too late. Not even with her blinding speed could they catch the man in time. He leapt onto the ship and the cargo door closed behind him. A moment later, the ship rose hastily into the air and was gone.

"My goodness, is everyone alright?"

Jaune turned to see Penny running towards them, apparently unharmed. A glance behind her revealed that the airship she had been wrestling with was laying upside-down on the ground with smoke billowing from its engines.

"Yeah, we're fine, Penny," Ruby confirmed. "Torchwick got away, though."

"Who was that guy?" Jaune asked.

"He's the one behind all these Dust robberies that have happened lately," Ruby explained. "He's kinda the reason I got into Beacon early, 'cos I interrupted one of his raids on a Dust shop."

"Why are the White Fang working with him, though?" Sun demanded. "This is a recent thing, right? The Fang wouldn't have worked with humans back in your day, would they, Blake?"

"Wait, Blake was in the White Fang?" Jaune gasped.

"Nice going, Sun!" Blake snarled.

"Oops," Sun mumbled, before turning towards Jaune. "Look, that information is super, super secret. Got that, buddy?"

"Did you know about this, Ruby?" Jaune demanded.

"Umm, yeah. Sort of," the small girl admitted.

"Then why the hell didn't you tell us? Me and the rest of Team JNPR have been helping you guys search for Blake all day. Don't you think we had a right to know?"

"I was going to tell you," Ruby said, twiddling her thumbs, "I guess the right opportunity never came up."

"We have literally been walking around all day! You could have told me anytime!"

"Ugh… well… you see…"

"Jaune!"

Ruby was saved by a loud shout coming from the distance. They turned to see Pyrrha running towards them with Weiss close behind. The tall red-head ran straight up to Jaune and enveloped him in a hug.

"Jaune, are you alright? We heard gunfire. Are you hurt? What happened?"

"Pyrrha… I… can't… breath," he managed to gasp out.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she cried releasing him instantly.

"Man, someone's a bit possessive," Sun sniggered.

In the meantime, Weiss had marched straight up to Blake. She stood in front of the taller girl with her hands on her hips and an angry look on her face.

"Where have you been? Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" Weiss demanded.

"Look, Weiss, I want you to know, I no longer have anything to do with the White Fang. I haven't for a while now, and I…"

"I don't care! You said you're not with the White Fang anymore, and that's fine. What's not fine is you vanishing off and trying to deal with this matter by yourself. You're part of this team, and if you have problems you should come to us first rather than relying on… someone else!"

Blake looked like she was going to cry for a second. "Of course," she said simply.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about you," Weiss snapped turning on Sun who laughed nervously.

"Wait, Blake was in the White Fang?" Pyrrha gasped, sounding shocked.

Blake groaned. "Look, let's just wait until everyone's together and I'll explain everything, okay?

"Yeah, because it sounds like you've got a lot to tell us," Jaune noted sourly.

"Yes, well, I promise I'll tell you everything," Blake said. "Let's just wait until Yang is here. I guess you want to include Ren and Nora, as well?"

"They've been helping look for you, too," Jaune pointed out. Blake just nodded in agreement.

"Well, at least today wasn't a total loss," Ruby announced. "Team RWBY is back together, we stopped Torchwick from stealing anymore Dust, and I got to eat a huge bowl of ice cream with strawberries!"

"Jaune… did you take Ruby to OUR ice cream parlour?" Pyrrha asked in a suspiciously neutral tone.

Jaune gulped.

* * *

"…and that's all I've got to tell you. I swear, that's it all," Blake said.

The combined members of Team RWBY and JNPR all exchanged glances. Clearly, none of them seemed to know exactly what to say. Weiss, of course, was the notable exception.

"So, let me get this straight. Not only were you a member of the White Fang, but your parents were founding members and actually ran the whole thing for a while?"

"Don't blame my parents for what the White Fang became," Blake snapped. "They saw what was happening which is why they left. They were powerless to stop it. If you want to blame anyone, you can blame me. I was there when the Fang turned to violence. Hell, for a while I believed it was the only option left open to us! I… just realised that we were becoming as bad as the people were fighting, if not worse."

"That's an understatement!" Weiss huffed.

"Really? So what about the Schnee Dust Company, eh? Have you ever seen the conditions that your firm's workers have to tolerate in Mantle? Faunus there are treated like slaves, forced to toil for a mere pittance, as they have no choice. You do know that your company owns practically everything in Atlas, don't you? They have a hand in education, health care, local government… a Faunus in Atlas either works for the Schnee's or starves to death! Those are their choices."

"I admit, my father has made some… bad choices in his time, and certainly when I take over the company things will be different, but the Fang are just a bunch of terrorists and murders! If they don't like their working conditions there are other things they could do, like go on strike, or something," Weiss said angrily.

"Go on strike? By the gods, you really are a naïve little brat, aren't you?" Blake sneered. "Do you know what they do to anyone who stands up and protests? They lose their jobs, their homes, and all medical care. They are effectively made outcasts!"

"I think you're exaggerating," Weiss insisted. "If the Council caught wind of anyone doing anything like that they'd…"

"They'd do what?" Blake interrupted, angrier then anyone had ever seen her before. "Your father has the Council practically in his pocket. Do you think Atlas would survive for even five minutes without the Schnee Dust Company? No, they're just happy to look the other way."

"General Ironwood would never do that! He's a good man," Weiss insisted.

"He's a general and a politician. He'll do whatever he thinks is best for Atlas, and if that means a few thousand Faunus end up being treated like slaves, then he won't lift a finger," Blake spat back.

Silence descended, with Weiss and Blake glaring at each other hatefully. The remaining occupants of the room just looked conflicted and upset. Ruby, in particular, was looking at her teammates like she was going to burst into tears.

"So, Blake, what are you going to do now?" Jaune asked eventually, deciding he needed to move the conversation along.

"My first priority is to take down Torchwick," Blake replied. "I have no idea how he's managed to get the White Fang to work with him, but if we can stop him I'm pretty certain we can stop all the robberies. I need to find out what's behind all of this."

"Not a bad idea, but I have one question. How do you intend to do this?" Jaune asked.

"What do you mean? I find Torchwick and I stop him. It's simple," she said with a shrug.

"Oh, and do you know where he is?"

"Well… no, but I can find him. There are only so many places in Vale that he can hide…"

"There are millions of places he can hide!" Jaune interrupted. "Not only that, but what are you going to do when you find him? That guy was a pretty damn good fighter, and in case you've forgotten, he has an army of White Fang members backing him up. Are you just going to waltz in and try and arrest him, or something? You'd just end up getting killed, Blake."

"I could…"

"And that's assuming you can even find him," Jaune continued, not letting Blake get a word in. "The guy is apparently a master criminal. I should imagine he's pretty good at hiding. So, how are you going to discover his location? Do you have any informants in the White Fang? Contacts in the Vale Police who could help? Torchwick's scroll number? Damn it, Blake, it's not like you're going to just be able to go to the library and look his address up!"

Blake said nothing, but looked angry. Really, what could she say?

"Then we'll help find him," Weiss said suddenly. "You mentioned Police contacts? Well, my family have access to information regarding the White Fang's activities. The Atlas authorities supply it to us so we can take measures to prevent any terrorist activities. If I can make a call to company headquarters, I might be able to access information that can help."

"Yeah, and I've got a few contacts in Vale's underworld," Yang added. "Maybe I can shake some information out of them."

"The rest of us can help perform search and reconnaissance missions," Ren suggested. "True, there are a lot of places this Torchwick guy could be hiding, but we can at least start checking the more likely locations, can't we?"

"Yeah, if he's stealing that much Dust and has so many White Fang helping him, his hideout has to be pretty big, doesn't it?" Nora pointed out.

"Then it's all agreed," Pyrrha announced happily.

"Wait, I never agreed to any of this," Blake protested. "This is my fight. I don't want to drag my friends into danger."

"Nah, that's dumb. It's not just your fight, Blake. We wanna help to," Sun announced firmly.

Jaune nodded at his new friend's words before something occurred to him. Sun hadn't been invited to this meeting!

They all turned to see the Faunus hanging upside-down outside the window, suspended by his tail. He looked completely unrepentant about his eavesdropping.

"Sun, what are you doing? How did you even get up here?" Blake demanded.

"What? I do this all the time," he replied nonchalantly.

"You do what?" Weiss repeated angrily. "If you've been spying on us while we've been undressing…"

"Gah! No, I didn't mean it like that! I'm not a pervert," Sun said, his arms flailing in panic.

"Just as well, monkey-boy. If I find out you've been peeking at Ruby and me…" Yang said, smacking her fist into her palm for emphasis.

"No, I swear it. Neptune will back me up, won't you, buddy?"

"Neptune's out there too?" Weiss gasped.

"Yeah, and can I come in please? It's really high up here," Neptune's disembodied voice begged.

The two Mistral students were eventually let into the room, where they had to suffer the intense glare of all the ladies present.

"So, like, we can help, too," Sun offered nervously. "I mean, I'm great at scoping out dangerous locations. Perhaps I could pose as a potential White Fang member, or something."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Ren agreed.

Blake sighed deeply. "I'm not going to convince you all to stay out of this, am I?" she asked in a resigned tone.

"Nope," Ruby confirmed. "We're all in this together. All for one, and one for all!"

"This is as much our fight as it is yours," Weiss agreed. "So, no sneaking off and trying to do this all by yourself, got it?"

"Got it," Blake confirmed with a small smile on her lips.

"Alright! The bad guys aren't going to know what hit them!" Nora shouted happily. "Ooh, what are we going to use as a team name? RBWYJUNPRSN, what can we make out of that?"

"We'll leave the team name to you," Ren said with a smile.

"JWYPSNRBUR? No, BURNYSWRPW? Oh… this is hard," Nora muttered.

"I have the feeling this is going to be a long night…" Ren said ruefully.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a dark warehouse situated in Vale's industrial district, a man with bright orange hair was sitting with his arm outstretched while a small, young woman dressed in a curious mix of pink, brown and white wrapped a bandage around it.

"Can it be? The great Roman Torchwick, beaten, bruised and forced to run with his tail between his legs?"

Roman turned his head and looked at the dark-haired woman who had emerged silently from the shadows. He gritted his teeth.

"Yes, well, you were the one that insisted I work with those animals," Roman snarled.

"And you will continue to do so, Roman," she said smoothly.

"Never mind that, we have another problem," Roman added, wincing as Neo tied off the bandage.

"What problem?"

"The kids at Beacon. It seems this year's batch seem to have some special talents and skills, not to mention a propensity for sticking their noses in where they're not wanted. They could cause us some problems."

"Really?" the woman drawled, her eyes almost glowing with interest. "That's something we're going to have to look into."

Roman smiled grimly.

 **To be continued in 'The Gathering Storm', coming soon.**


End file.
